you can’t

Can’t Buy Me Love

“Listen to what the Lord is saying:
‘Stand up and state your case against Me.
Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.
And now, O mountains,
Listen to the Lord’s complaint!
He has a case against His people.
He will bring charges against Israel.

O My people, what have I done to you?
What have I done to make you tired of Me?
Answer Me!
For I brought you out of Egypt
And redeemed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.
Don’t you remember, My people,
How King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed
And how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
When I, the Lord, did everything I could
To teach you about My faithfulness.”

What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring Him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
With offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer Him thousands of rams
And ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?” —Micah 6:1-7 NLT

“False worshippers think God’s favor, like theirs, can be bought or earned. They offer the Lord everything but what He asks for: their loving and obedient hearts.” —B.K. Waltke

“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
Your burnt offerings and sacrifices
Or your obedience to His voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
And submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” —1 Samuel 15:22 NLT

we often mistake

“If you love Me, obey My commandments.” —John 14:15 NLT

“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.” —Acts 3:19-20 NLT

“But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” —1 John 1:9 NLT

“You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;
You find mercy by admitting and leaving them.” —Proverbs 28:13 Message

“The Lord has told you what is good,
And this is what He requires of you:
To do what is right, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God.” —Micah 6:8 NLT

“Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” —Matthew 22:37-40 NLT

“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” —Matthew 10:39 NLT

“Christians, like Micah’s contemporaries and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, are also in danger of substituting monetary gifts and dead moralism for the radical and continuing repentance Christ demands.” —Bruce Waltke

God desires

“O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.” —Luke 18:13 NLT