What does the Lord require of us? Jesus said: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."” Matthew 11:30
He also said: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 His burden is light yet He expects us to be perfect!
How are the two statements reconciled? What does the Lord desire of us?
God desires for us to obey Him. If we obey Him His “burden is light” because He never asks us to do what we cannot do. He even gives us the desire to do His will, although not always initially. Our conscience can convict us if we are not obeying God, but unnecessary guilt or condemnation is from the devil: “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1
Jesus desires us to be perfect. Perfection doesn’t mean we will never make mistakes because there is a difference between mistakes and sins. Mistakes can be learning experiences.
Perfection doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted—even Jesus was tempted: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15
Also Jesus knows we are weak. Jesus is God, but He was also a man. He didn’t rely on Himself as a man; His strength came from God Hia Father: “For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power…” 2 Corinthians 13:4a Jesus appeared to be weak when He was crucified; the devil appeared to have won. Yet it was the greatest victory that was ever achieved. Man’s sins were paid for; we can live forever in heaven with Jesus.
The remainder of that verse shows that we can do the same: “…Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.” 2 Corinthians 13:4b The Apostle Paul was able to do God’s will and serve the Corinthians by relying on God’s power.
Jesus wants us to aim for perfection, to have the desire, to make it our goal as the Apostle Paul did: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
Jesus will gladly forgive us as soon as we ask with sincerity: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17 This verse also demonstrates the kind of sacrifice God wants.
Jesus doesn’t want our man made sacrifices: “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3 He wants us to freely choose to sacrifice our will. He has given us a free will, and He wants us to freely choose to love and obey Him: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38 (See Matthew 16:25 Mark 8:35 Luke 9:24; 17:33 John 12:25) When we have freely chosen to do that, the rest is a joy.
The following portion of the Bible illustrates the difference between man made sacrifice and obedience.
The Lord had instructed Saul the king of Israel to completely destroy the evil Amalekites:
“When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions."
But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
"Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.
Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel8 And he sent you on a mission, saying, `Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?"
"But I did obey the Lord," Saul said. "I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal."But Samuel replied:”Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord."
But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!"1 Samuel 15:13-26 The Lord rejected Saul as king because he did not obey. He saved the best of the sheep and cattle as a sacrifice for the Lord, but that was not what the Lord asked or wanted.
The Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:6-8
“Justly” means “Honorable and fair in one’s dealings and actions…Consistent with what is morally right; righteous”.
“Mercy’ is “compassion shown by one person to another, or…to be shown such leniency or unwarranted compassion for a crime or wrongdoing.” The Lord has shown us so much mercy, we need to learn to show mercy to others.
What does the Lord require of us? He wants us to be honorable and fair, compassionate and obedient to Him: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”