Proverbs 21:27

The wicked person’s sacrifice is an abomination;
how much more when he brings it with evil intent!

As a pastor, there has been a time or two that I’ve received treats of one kind or another. And as anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I like sweets. They don’t even have to be that good and I can still enjoy them. And depending on how hungry I am, I’ll even eat a cookie or brownie with nuts in it. If someone took the time to make me cookies, I’d usually try to eat them.

However, there were some cookies I didn’t eat. Those were the cookies that people made when they were coming to my office to complain or try to convince me to do something I didn’t want to do. I didn’t eat them. They were supremely annoying to me. It was like they were saying to me, “You’re an idiot. I know you have made a decision, but I want you to change it back. So I thought I could make you some cookies and you’d go back to what I wanted. Just because I made you cookies and you’re an idiot.”

Those cookies went right in the trash. And yes, I’m aware that there are starving people around the world. But, even they aren’t dumb enough to eat them.

Now, this is just for what are actually small things. These are things that don’t matter one iota in comparison to God’s grace. These don’t amount to a hill of beans.

Imagine how God must feel when someone does the same thing with worship and their relationship with Him. God’s takes worshipping very seriously. He wants his followers to worship him. But imagine how He feels when his followers bring in worship with the intent to get something out of it.

Or, even worse. Imagine how God must feel when we do things to serve him just so we can get something out of Him. I imagine it’s quite offensive. It’s an abomination. It’s the highest form of evil.

We don’t follow God because of what we can get out of Him. We don’t give our lives to God because we expect Him to give us blessings. We don’t worship God because we we hope that our worshipping Him will bring us rewards. We don’t give to God because we want to sin and get away with it by paying more money in offering.

When we do, it is an abomination to him. That is the highest form of evil.