Broken and Contrite

I will not give,
to you my King,
a sacrifice that costs me nothing.

My offering,
Your asking price,
my heart laid bare,
broken and contrite for You.

These are the words of one of my favorite worship songs. So many times I don't do this. I hold back and don't give God everything he asks, I give Him something else, something easier for me to give. All He asks is that I lay everything down at His feet and come with nothing other than a broken and contrite heart. In other words, I understand and accept that I have and will always come up short and can only be redeemed by Christ's blood, and that I deeply desire His forgiveness and atonement and realize my need for it. That's it.

Most of the time I end up turning it into something else. I end up giving a sacrifice that costs me nothing. I give my time, I try to treat people nice, do the right thing, be a good husband and father, serve others who are in need, reach out to the poor. He doesn't ask me to do any of this, and I quickly lose focus on Him and begin looking at things I have done, or need to do.

I've wrote about this before, but for my own sake, it needs repeated: He doesn't need us to do anything! He is the almighty maker of heaven and earth, formed the mountains and valleys and created the plants and animals. Just thinking of the creation that surrounds us everywhere, from the concrete jungle, to the actual jungle, everywhere around us is the awesomeness of God. If He created all of this beauty, why then, would he need us to do anything? He only asks us to, with a contrite heart, lay down our brokenness at the foot of our Almighty God! I pray Lord that we only lay down your asking price.