A Bible Devotion : What Does God Desire?

Does God desire a company of people who will obey the ten commandments, give ten percent of all their income to Him, and faithfully attend worship services each week?

NO!

That was the Old Covenant. If God was happy with what was happening then, He would have never instituted a New Covenant.

If that was all God desired, He could have stayed with the Old Covenant. Why bother with Jesus dying to bring in a New Covenant?

God said the New Covenant is NOT like the Old Covenant.

JEREMIAH 31:32 NET
32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them," says the LORD.

The Old Covenant was primarily dependent on human effort. The New Covenant is primarily dependent on what God has done through Jesus Christ. That is why the Old Covenant was weak. Humans are fallible, but God is not.

God does not change, but His covenants do change.

God wants to live in you, and be able to express Himself through you (2 Corinthians 6:16, Colossians 1:27). God wants you to give yourself to Him unreservedly, just like He has given Himself to you.

Would you be satisfied if your spouse visited you once or twice a week and gave you ten percent of their income? What kind of relationship would that be? Would you want a part-time spouse that you shared with several others? Maybe one that just visited you on Sundays? God gave you His all, His best. God made a total commitment to you and His desire is for you to reciprocate His love and commitment.

Jesus did not die for you so you would give Him ten percent of your money or your time. Jesus expressed His love for you by giving His all. Nothing less than giving your all to Him is a decent response to what He did for you.

Does this mean you must give everything you own to a church, or to the poor? No. But it does mean you should be ready and willing to trust Jesus and obey whatever He guides you to do.

SAY THIS: God desires for me to love Him just like He loves me.