Sacrifice and the Worship of God

Our God is gracious and merciful, allowing sinful people to come to him through the work of his Son without accomplishing any merit on their own; yet he is also holy and righteous, desiring us to recognize that we cannot come to him on our own terms. We ought to feel that tension each time we walk into a worship service. We know that we may come to him free of charge, so to speak, but also must come in spirit and truth. These realities are not new to us but existed since the first time God called his people to him. Today, as we think through Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, let us reconsider the nature of our worship of God.