LEAVE THERE THY GIFT - Matthew 5:23-24
Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
You have heard that God desires obedience over sacrifice. In this passage, Christ reaffirms this Old Testament principle and expands it by revealing to us that if our relationship with others is not right, then our relationship with God cannot be right. How can our relationship with God be right when we cannot get along with our brother whom we can see?
You understand that you are to love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. If you only obey the first Commandment and refuse to obey the second Commandment, you are still a law breaker and you are guilty of breaking the entire law. God is not concerned with all the wonderful things you do for HIM if you are refusing to love your fellow man whom you can see.
To hate your fellow man and attempt to love God would be like a person attempting to drive cross country in a car that had no motor. If you are going to be a Christian who properly reflects the light of God, you must both love God and your neighbor.
You may argue that the days of offering sacrifices to God are now over and as such, this passage no longer applies to you. This is a very short sided argument and does not take into consideration the depth of the teaching Christ is presenting.
Every time you pray to God, you are bringing a sacrifice. Remember, before the death of Jesus Christ, God did not speak with the common man but instead only spoke through the priests and the prophets. The bringing of the sacrifices was necessary in order for the priests to intercede on ones behalf.
Now that Christ has replaced the sacrificing of animals, HE is the perfect sacrifice. Because of HIS sacrifice, we are able to come to God and talk with HIM. We are able to make our petitions known directly to HIM. We are able to confess our sins to HIM because of the sacrifice of the Pure Lamb.
Prayer is an important part of your relationship with God. It is through prayer that you are able to speak with God and to ask HIM for protection, provision, and direction. Every time we pray, we are presenting to God the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In this passage, Christ is revealing to us that it is more important to go and repair our relationship with our fellow man before we come to the Lord in prayer and make our petitions known to HIM.
In 1 Peter 3:7 this principle is further elaborated when we are taught that a husband must dwell with his wife with knowledge, honoring her so that his prayers are not hindered. If a husband cannot be one with his wife, how can he expect to be one with God? Why should God honor the prayers of a man who cannot love his wife as he loves himself?
The more time you spend adding knowledge of the ways of God, the easier it will be for you to understand that God is looking at our relationships with others here on this earth. If our relationship with man whom we can see is not right, then our relationship with God whom we cannot see will never be right.