THINK TOGETHER.
Do you remember what sacrifices were in the Old Testament?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 21:3. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
In the Old Testament the people offered sacrifices to God. They would gather at the Temple and they would offer animals to God to cover up their sins. These sacrifices pointed forward to when Jesus would come and die for us on the cross.
But here’s the problem. The people would bring their sacrifices to the Temple to get the forgiveness, but then they wouldn’t change how they lived. They would not do righteousness and justice. Righteousness and justice are what God cares about the most. Together these words describe how we are supposed to treat other people.
Righteousness = always treating everyone with kindness and fairness.
Justice = fixing it when people aren’t treated with kindness and fairness.
If the people brought all the right sacrifices to the Temple, but didn’t treat others with kindness. If they prayed all the prayers, but didn’t help the poor and the hungry. If they celebrated all God’s feasts and festivals, but didn’t pay their workers what they deserved. Well let’s just say this made God pretty angry.
Do you think there is a danger of us making this same mistake today? Could we pray to God and ask for forgiveness, or go to church to show that we are good, and then turn around and be unfair and unkind to people? Could we read our Bible, then forget everything we read and still be mean to our little sister? Might we sing about Jesus’ love at youth group and then gossip about others after youth group?
The good news is that Jesus is both our sacrifice for sin and he is our righteousness and justice. Because of what he did on the cross, EVERYONE will receive justice from God. And when he lives in our hearts, we can be used by God to bring righteousness and justice to others by our kind and fair deeds.
Because of Jesus we have received his righteousness and justice by the cross.
With Jesus we can do righteousness and justice.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
What instruments do you use in the kitchen? Read Romans 6:13. What do you think “instrument for righteousness” means?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, make me your instrument of righteousness today. Amen.
TLICfamily 