Focus: Sweeten My Heart (Pt.3)

Text: Isa.43:24

"Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities."

God deserves all the glory that you can give to Him. He's worthy of all your praises and sacrifices. The psalmist says, "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised…" (Ps.18:3). Not only is God deserving of your sugar, He is also, at the same time, bigger, larger and greater than all the praises you bring to Him.

Think of all His doings, especially His death on the cross. As the creator of man and all of nature, the Scripture says, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive GLORY and HONOUR and POWER…" (Rev.4:11). As the redeemer of the saints, we read, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive POWER, and RICHES, and WISDOM, and STRENGTH, and HONOUR, and GLORY, and BLESSING" (Rev.5:12). He is deserving of all these and more. These are the sweet canes you need to present to Him along with the fat of your sacrifices. 

David goes a step further to say, "THINE, O LORD, is the GREATNESS, and the POWER, and the GLORY, and the VICTORY, and the MAJESTY: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is THINE; THINE is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all" (1Chron.29:11). He goes on to say in the next verse, "Both RICHES and HONOUR come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is POWER and MIGHT; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all," and finally he breaks down in worship, and says, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for ALL THINGS come of thee, and of THINE OWN have we given thee… O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for THINE HOLY NAME cometh of THINE HAND, and is all THINE OWN" (1Chron.29:14,16). The power given to you to make wealth is from Him. 

So you can see that your God owns every good thing in this world, and there is nothing you give to Him that is absolutely yours.

Melchizedek called him, "The Most High" and "The Possessor of Heaven and Earth." He owns everything that money can buy and everything that money cannot buy. He is deserving of your sweet canes and the fat of your sacrifices. The Lord's Prayer concludes with, "For thine is the KINGDOM, and the POWER, and the GLORY, for ever. Amen" (Mt.6:13). They are His forever, not only for a while. He will never lose a single thing that He possesses.

It is not wise withholding things from God, and it is not even in your best interest harboring things that actually belong to Him. It is not intelligence or commonsense to sit tight on things freely given to you by God. Your best attitude is gratitude. Give God that sweetness that He deserves, desires and demands of you, regardless of the cost. Go all the way in worshipping and serving God, all the way in loving and obeying Him, and all the way in doing His will. Sweeten His heart and experience more of His wonders in your life.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter