I Didn't Really Mean It
Marcie stood before her Dad looking at her favorite toy car. Suddenly she jumped up in his lap and said, “You know, Daddy, this is my favorite toy. But I want you to have it.”
Surprised, he asked, “Why, I know that you love this little car. Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because I love you,” was her reply.
A few moments later she climbed back into his lap and said, “Daddy, I want my car back. I guess I didn’t love you as much as I thought I did,” and took her car back.
Many Christians have the same attitude toward God. We give ourselves to Him and then realize that it’s going to bring about changes in our lives that we did not realize. So, we take back our “gift.”
In Psalm 118 we read of a “festal” procession with people going “up to the horns of the altar.” The people in this procession are taking a sacrifice to God. This is not unusual because throughout the Bible people take many different sacrifices to God. In this verse, however, the people in the procession are required to take their “bough” in their hands – their sacrifice – and “bind” it to the altar. Once the sacrifice was bound to the altar, it could not be taken back!
Paul wrote, “Give your bodies to God and let them be a living sacrifice.” The sacrifice he writes of in this verse is not for our sin but for our salvation. When we accept His salvation, He expects us to willingly “bind” ourselves to Him in loving service.
Prayer: Convict us, Lord, to become “willing” sacrifices and abandon ourselves in service to You forever. Only when we leave our ALL on the altar have we really given ourselves to you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture For Today: – With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. -Psalm 118:27b
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