Meaningful Words Require Devotion (5/25/2025)

“ ‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?’  Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats” (Isaiah 01:11).

The prophet is in the introductory section of His prophecies containing heavy condemnation of God’s people for their failure to appreciate being so abundantly blessed. He is using overstatement to make his point that God does not accept feigned appreciation—it must be sincere.

Under the Old Law, God, of course, required animal sacrifices: the point is that those sacrifices without a demonstrable devotion to God were of no interest to Him and were of no benefit to the one offering the sacrifice.

This overstatement reinforces New Testament teaching that our service to God must be accompanied by a sincere devotion to Him: and our devotion must be reinforced by a life of service in His kingdom.

To use our lips to declare devotion to God and to fail to perform any actions that show that devotion is actually a mockery. Jesus puts it succinctly: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” (John 14:23).