“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, an acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Hosea 6:6
Someone once said, “Going through the motions is no way to go through life.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
But it can also be said, “Going through the motions is no way to go through the Christian life,” as well.
Because if we’re just ‘going through the motions’ in our faith, we’re merely marking boxes on a checklist of Christian activity.
• Go to church on Sundays. Check.
• Give a little money online. Check.
• Occasionally open the Bible. Check.
While we may be doing the right things on the outside, we often carry out our religious routine like a robot without a heart. We are present in body but not in spirit. We have a sense of duty but not delight – creating a walk with the Lord that is lifeless and void of enthusiasm. Worse still, we have no interest in letting the Lord transform us from the inside out. We are perfectly content to keep Him at a distance, living as if He doesn’t exist.
My friends, if this sounds like you, you may be ‘going through the motions.’
People were going through motions back in Hosea’s day, too. This is precisely what the prophet confronts when he says the Lord “desires mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). The New Living Translation makes Hosea’s words a little easier to understand: “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know Me more than I want burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
You might ask, “But didn’t God institute the system of sacrifice?”
Yes, he did, but the issue wasn’t with the sacrifices per se. The issue was the superficial manner in which the Israelites offered the sacrifices. Sure, they could check the box marked ‘sacrifice,’ but inwardly, their hearts were miles from God.
You see, the Lord doesn’t want us to go through the motions. He wants our love (the Hebrew word for ‘mercy’ means “steadfast love”). He desires a deep, intimate relationship with us, one that can completely revolutionize our lives.
That’s why Scripture echoes Hosea’s bold indictment against Israelite worship over and over again. (See: 1 Samuel 15:22, Proverbs 21:3, Isaiah 1:11, Micah 6:6-8). Even Jesus quoted Hosea’s words to a group of self-righteous Pharisees (Matthew 9:13).
When a truth is repeated multiple times in the Bible, we must pay close attention.
So, take a minute to evaluate your walk with the Lord. Are you just going through the motions?
Over the years, the Lord has used Hosea’s words to rouse me from complacency and remind me of what’s truly important in my walk with Him. Like other followers of Jesus, I’ve had times when everything felt monotonous and drab. I’ve certainly been stuck in more than one spiritual rut.
Yet, while it’s only natural to get in a rut, it’s not okay to live in one.
Jesus did not endure the agony of the cross and get up from the grave so we could just go through the motions and play like we’re Christians. No, we are to “love Him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind” (Matthew 22:37).
So, let today be the day when you say, “No more.”
Renew a vibrant, authentic connection with Jesus and stop going through the motions.
Written by Jonathan Munson, Executive Director, RFTH
DIG DEEPER
Read “Walk Worthy of the Gospel” by Bryant Wright
