Deciding What Is Best for God

Arn Buck – October 28, 2007
Heart Song Worship Center

“There are no disappointments to those whose wills are buried in the will of God.”
       Frederick William Faber (1814–1863)

In observing the exchanging of gifts at Christmas, birthday birthday celebrations, and office parties. I have noticed two types of present choosers. One type assumes that they know what the recipient would like. Sometimes this causes them to buy a present that they would like to receive themselves. The other does their best to find out what the recipient would really like. The latter requires more effort. This sometimes even includes stealthy and creative detective work. It reflects a higher degree of compassion and often provides a gift that the receiver doesn't have to pretend to like.

I once worked with a man who told me that his wife exchanged every present that he ever gave her. I had to wonder how well he knew her. Did he ever talk with her and spend time with her. People have a way of dropping hints if you pay attention.

When we decide to do something to please God, how do we decide what it is that we should do? Let's start by taking a looking at some examples from the Old Testament. Making an offering was one way that people were able to please God. An offering is not unlike a gift. The main difference is that it is being given to a deity. In the beginning of Leviticus chapter ten, we find two of Aaron's sons making an offering of incense.

Leviticus 10:1 – 7 (NLT) Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when he said, ‘I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people.’” And Aaron was silent. Then Moses called for Mishael and Elzaphan, Aaron’s cousins, the sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel. He said to them, “Come forward and carry away the bodies of your relatives from in front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” So they came forward and picked them up by their garments and carried them out of the camp, just as Moses had commanded. Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not show grief by leaving your hair uncombed or by tearing your clothes. If you do, you will die, and the LORD’s anger will strike the whole community of Israel. However, the rest of the Israelites, your relatives, may mourn because of the LORD’s fiery destruction of Nadab and Abihu. But you must not leave the entrance of the Tabernacle or you will die, for you have been anointed with the LORD’s anointing oil.” So they did as Moses commanded.

This is an extreme example of the consequences of making an offering to God the wrong way. God provided implicant instructions in Exodus chapter ten on how to make incense, how to offer incense, and how to perform the priestly duties. A couple pertinent verses from this chapter are shown below.

Exodus 30:36b – 37 (NLT) You must treat this incense as most holy. Never use this formula to make this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the LORD, and you must treat it as holy.

Exodus 30:9 (NLT) Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings.

It would be almost unthinkable to believe that Moses and Aaron did not ensure that Nadab and Abihu understood their priestly duties. Yet for some reason they decided to operate outside the rules. Were they caught up in the excitement of the activities taking place in the Tabernacle that day? Did their egos lead them to believe that they had more latitude to act on their own? After all being a priest and ministering to God on behalf of the people was a tremendously high honor. Did they find an incense that they thought was more fragrant than that specified by the Lord? Whatever their offense God had to demonstrate to all that He was holy and mighty God that must not be trifled with. We have a tendency to devalue the things of God so that we can feel comfortable exercising our will apart from Him.

Getting back to our discussion of present giving, this example shows that Nadab and Abihu represent the first type of giver that we identified earlier. They attempted to give God a present that they believed He would like. They choose to do this even though they were clearly told what He wanted.

We can learn much by examining the contrast between King David and King Saul. While David regularly strove to please God by seeking His heart, Saul often attempted to manipulate the things of God to benefit himself. While David made every effort to please God. Saul's objective was more of appeasing God. This attitude put him close to the edge of disobedience. It didn't take a lot to push him over the edge. One time the prophet Samuel instructed Saul to wait for Him to make an offering before a key battle against the Philistines.

1 Samuel 13:8– 14 (NLT) Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?” Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle.So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the LORD’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. Had you kept it, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

One real danger of Saul's attitude toward God is that it made it easier for him to rationalize. You can almost hear Saul saying to himself, “I know that God wanted me to wait for Samuel but maybe something happened to Him. God wants me to win this battle. It is clear that He favors Israel and hates the Philistines. Something has to be done soon. Samuel is not here and my men are deserting me. Each time I look around it there are less of them. I could make the offering myself. God would understand because this is a special situation. God really needs my help now to win the battle. Let's do it!” As Saul found out it is dangerous to assume that God changed His mind because of the pressure we are experiencing.

Let's do a reality check. Why would God ever have to change a plan that He clearly give to someone? Couldn't He see all the future events before developing the plan. Does God make wrong choices or decisions? Saul had to rationalize God to be something that He wasn't to believe that he could make the offering in place of Samuel. He paid the price. God takes takes disobedience quite seriously especially if you are the king of His beloved Israel. Samuel told Saul that, because of his disobedience, God was going to replace him as king.

We serve a spiritual God whom we cannot detect with any of our senses. Because of this it is difficult not to let the physical world around us distract us from His plan and purpose. This is especially true at times when God is less of a reality to us. The social structure within a church can cause us to conform to itself instead of being what God wants us to be. Pear pressure, even in Christian circles, can be a strong motivator. We conform so that we will be liked and accepted. Unfortunately this type of conformance often breeds hypocrisy because the change is on the outside. When we conform to God's plan and desires the change is internal.

The final Old Testament example that we will look at is Cain's offering. It demonstrates how far a person can go out of their way to keep from being submissive to God.

Genesis 4:2b – 7 (NLT) When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift,but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.“Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

Why did God not accept Cain's offering? Did He do so prove that as God he alone can select who He loves and who He does not? Did He reject Cain because he offered produce instead of blood? I believe that there is an important clue in the description of Abel's offering. It says that Abel brought the best of the firstborn. He set apart the best of what he had for God. What does this say of Abel? Doesn't it indicate that he put God's pleasure above his own? Isn't this how love is demonstrated? How about Cain? The passage says that he presented some of his crops. The wording infers that Cain likely keep the best for himself and then offered the rest to God. What does this say about his relationship to God? Did God reject Cain's offering because it did not reflect love for Him? I think that we might be on to something here.

Although Cain's offering might have reflected a selfish heart, he was truly upset above God's rejection. God saw this and encouraged Cain by saying, “You will be accepted if you do what is right.” All that Cain had to do to please God was to humble himself, ask God's forgiveness for his selfishness, and decide to start giving God his best out of love for Him. It could have been a happy story with two brothers blessing God and being blessed by him. However, that is not how it turned out. Humbling ourselves before God is a hard thing to do. It is not usual for God to have to break our will as a rider breaks in a wild horse. Too often we decide to remain wild and independent then to serve a loving and just Master. That is the path that Cain choose. It was easier for him to murder his own brother than to submit to God. What did he gain? He had to suffer God's penalty for his actions and God still did not accept his offering.

We are no longer required to make blood or grain offerings to God since Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice our sins. However, we can still bring pleasure to God by offering our lives to Him as an expression of our love. Life is a series of choices. We have ample opportunities to chose between what pleases us and what brings pleasure to God. Just as in the Old Testament, our choices are a reflection of our relationship with God. If we choose to please Him, we will seek to know His heart like king David did. If we choose to be selfish and ungrateful, we will decide what pleases Him like Cain, Nadab, Abihu, and king Saul did.

Let's take some time to be honest with ourselves. We have a tendency to make our relationship with God to appear to us better than it is. We have trouble accepting ourselves as selfish and self–serving. The more honest we are about this, the better God will be able to help us grow closer to Him and be stronger in Him. Be honest. It's between you and Him. No one else has to know. Let the Holy Spirit show you the things that stand between you and Him. He won't show you more than you can deal with. He wants you to succeed.

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