Sacrifices. offerings and my relationship with God...

A loving relationship is not characterized by the amount of gifts you give or receive. It is characterized by the value you place on the person and how you actually treat that person in your daily life. Things that come from within not without

A time where sacrifices, offerings and blessings are become what takes the leading roles in the life of people, I wonder whether the desire for blessings usually characterized by the giving of gifts and offerings are backed up by a desire for God. A desire to love and know Him a desire to worship Him not just in words but in deeds, not just in church but with the very lives we live. We have a God who sees all, who knows all, knows the depths of the heart of man, both what man reveals and what man chooses to keep secret.
A look to different scenes in the bible at different times from the very beginning to the end to check out how people in the bible gave...

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:2-7): Two different sacrifices, one from the first fruits of his hand, the other just from the fruits of his hand. While it is important to note the use of the first fruits, I however believe that of equal or more importance is what is noted in verse 6 and 7 "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Of equal importance to God was the state of Cain's heart and not just his sacrifice, the reason why his offering was not accepted.

Abraham (Genesis 13:14-18): It was after Abraham, obeyed God after a while, by totally leaving his family as God commanded him to that God actually came and reminded him again of the promise and the reason He commanded him (Abraham) to leave his father's house in the first place. It goes beyond the sacrifice Abraham made and centre on his obedience, far more important to God.

There are so many stories in the bible from the story of Saul (1 Samuel 15:22), to the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Saul lost his kingdom, Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives. The widow who gave 2 mites was the one that gave the least in the eyes of men but gave the greatest in the eyes of God, because she gave right. David talked about not giving to God that which cost him nothing and I wonder about the idea of giving God because you want Him to bless you back threefold, fourfold and tenfold. Is that what motivates me to give? If it is then does God accept the offerings I give? Jesus spoke about going back to ask your brother who you have wronged to forgive you before you actually give anything to God; Why was that? Because in giving an offering you and not your offering have to come to God acceptable unto Him present yourself as a living sacrifice before God FIRST, before anything else (Romans 12:1).

Looking through the bible we will see over and over again that although God loves the sacrifice we bring before Him, what matters to Him the most is the state of my heart, the state of my life, that is what makes my sacrifice acceptable to Him.