Human Response 462: Sacrifice and Offering when God Comes

1 Chronicles 16:1 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

David and the people responded to God’s grace and salvation by bringing in the ark, the earthly presence of God, and setting it in the tent David had pitched for it. God Himself comes into our world at Christmas; He comes into our hearts at Baptism and being born again by faith; He comes weekly into our lives in Divine Worship; and He comes daily into our hearts and lives when we repent and believe the Gospel.

We pitch a tent for Him, that is, we prepare a place in our heart to receive Jesus, and He dwells there with us, Immanuel. Our bodies become a temple of the living God, the place where God lives among us with grace, mercy, and peace. We respond to His coming by receiving Him by faith, repenting and receiving forgiveness. Jesus comes and lives “within my heart that it may be a quiet chamber kept for thee.”

When that is settled, we live lives of sacrifice and offering out of faith. God’s presence is so wonderful that we gladly give of ourselves for the good of others, and we offer everything we are and everything we have in the service of other people. We die to self and live to Him, for He has come.