What’s really going on?

Hand sanitizer burns almost perfectly clear, and it can be hard to even see the flame. But it was there and easily lit that paper towel on fire.

What was really going on was a hot fire that would easily have burned me if I had touched it. 

And sometimes in our lives, what’s really going on on the inside is about to burn us badly through what we say and do if we don’t let God fix our heart issue first.

Numbers‬ ‭29‬:‭39‬ ‭says, “These things ye shall do unto the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.”

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Why all the sacrifices and offerings? Among other reasons, they helped the Israelites see what was really going on in their hearts as they repented and worshiped God. They were reminders of how good and merciful God is and how desperately they each needed Him. 

Our hearts need a lot of reminders still today because we naturally want wrong things. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Yes Jesus makes us new when we get saved, but we will still choose to live the old way if we aren’t led by the Holy Spirit. 

So what do we do to help us see what’s really going on?

Luke 6:45 gives a great thought: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

We don’t always know what’s in our own heart, but we can compare our words (and texts and posts) and actions to what the Bible says. 

We don’t need to offer God burnt offerings, but we should willingly offer Him our lives and follow Him genuinely from the heart. 

Today’s Bible reading is Numbers 29.