Early this morning as I was reading in Exodus, I came across a passage that required math and more coffee, so I refilled my cup and opened my calculator app. In the 28th and 29th chapters of Exodus, I kept noticing bull sacrifices over and over and over again. You can read it for yourself, of course, but let me give you a quick synopsis of what God was requiring of His people:
2 bulls a month, 2 bulls on the 15th day of the first month, 2 bulls on the day of firstfruits (which happened once a year), 1 bull on the 1st day of the seventh month, 1 bull on the 10th day of the seventh month, and 71 bulls during an 8-day stretch beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month. Whew! If I did my math right, that 101 bulls a year, and that, my friends, is a lot of bull.
Now, there was a reason for all that bull. The sacrifices allowed God’s people to have fellowship with their God even though they were sinful and He was not. Without the sacrifices of all those bulls (and a lot of other animals, too), God’s holiness would have resulted in a bad ending for His people, so like I said, there was a reason for all the bull.
But did you notice the word “was?”
Funny thing is, even after Jesus came and lived among us, then died on the Passover and rose on the day of firstfruits to end the need for these kinds of sacrifices, it seems that we’re still offering God a whole lot of bull. We promise this or that with no intention of actually keeping it. We spend the week far from Him and then cram ourselves full of Bible study on Saturday in hopes that we’ll feel Him more acutely on Sunday. Worse, we think about everything from the NFL lockout to what we’ll eat for lunch as we’re singing songs to Him in our services. Unbelievabull.
Contrary to what Bruce originally thought, God does have a tough job. Can you imagine wading in all this, um, stuff? I can’t. Just a little bit of bull from one person sends my meter through the roof. All this bull from Christians everywhere at once? I don’t think that’s the fragrance God had in mind in Revelation 5:8!
Just like you and I would, God had a pretty strong reaction to the smell, and we see it in the first chapter of Isaiah. He tells His people that He doesn’t need any more of their “meaningless offerings” (v. 13). He says that the sheer volume of bull has become a “burden” to Him that was wearing Him out (v. 14). Even worse, He accuses them of “trampling” His courts (v. 12) and goes so far as to say that praying would make it worse (v. 15)!
Are you smelling what I’m smelling? We’re standing in His presence offering more empty religion when we should be checking our shoes to see who stepped in it. In fact, that’s exactly what God tells us to do.
Verse 16 tells us to make ourselves clean, get rid of the evil, and learn to do right. In other words, “All that bull you’ve been giving Me has built up on your shoes. How about kicking them off and let’s get you cleaned up so you can go learn how to do the right things?”
The right things are defined here in Isaiah as encouraging, defending, and standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves (v. 17). There is something about helping those who are helpless that helps us cut through all the stuff that doesn’t matter. The simple act of serving goes a long way toward bull removal in our lives, and a big reason for that is that we become more thankful for Who God is and what He’s done for us. And that is exactly what our God wants from us.
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox,more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. (Psalm 69:30-31)
Do you want to cut through the bull in your own life? Be thankful before God, humble before others, and generous in your service of the helpless.
It is the most godly, and nobull, thing we can do.
Paul.. true words and I have had alot of “stuff” on my shoes to get rid of.. thanks for helping me “kick” it off!
Ha! Me and you both, Jan.