I desire mercy

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. - Hosea 6v6

It is easy to get confused about what God wants from us. Most of that confusion comes when we put religious practices ahead of our relationship with Him. There is a huge temptation to try and conform our practices and behaviour to what we think He wants and then me content because everything looks right and we all doing all the right things.

The people Hosea wrote to did the same thing. When confronted with their sin they decided to try and get things sorted. The made a commitment to get to know God better. But, their decision to do right faded as quickly as the morning dew. There was nothing to it in their hearts.

God points out the difference between religious practice and a changed heart from Genesis to Revelation. What God desires from us is ‘mercy instead of sacrifice.’ It is ‘the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’  

The Colossians had this problem. They thought it they could get the ‘touch not, taste not, handle nots’ right than God would be happy. The whole letter tells them that those things will never make us right with God.

Micah 6v8 puts it pretty clearly. ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’

I wonder what our lives would be like if we focused on knowing God better, looking for ways to show mercy, walking humbly, and being just in our dealings.