22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;
But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.
23 “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,
Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with [e]offerings,
Nor wearied you with incense.
24 “You have bought Me not [f]sweet cane with money,
Nor have you [g]filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have wearied Me with your iniquities.25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.
26 “[h]Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together;
State your cause, that you may be proved right.
27 “Your first [i]forefather sinned,
And your [j]spokesmen have [k]transgressed against Me.
28 “So I will [l]pollute the [m]princes of the sanctuary,
And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.
As this chapter ends, it isn’t a happy note that concludes God’s message to Israel. It ought to be, and it certainly wasn’t what God wanted. He says so himself in v. 25, that He would rather wipe out Israel’s transgressions, and put their sins out of His memory. If they would only remember God (v. 26), and come to Him. If they would even argue their case before God, but they can’t even be bothered to do that. Why?
Go back to v. 22, “You have not called on Me, O Jacob, but you have become weary of Me…” Ouch! God didn’t ask for much (v. 23), and He certainly didn’t need their offerings and sacrifices. We might be tempted to think, “No, but indirectly, He needed them to provide for the priests and the levites, right?” Did He really? God provided manna and quail for the Israelites in the desert, so no He didn’t need the Israelites help to provide for those who served in the temple.
But they did… They needed to get their eyes off themselves, and do what they were born to do, to serve each other. Just as Jesus later told us that He came to serve, He has put that in our DNA. Rather, deeper than that, our very souls crave purpose, and we find that in service. Nearly every job in existence is designed to serve someone–I can’t think of any exceptions, but perhaps someone can find one.
More than that, we need to get our eyes off ourselves so we focus on God instead. Not for His benefit, but for our own. He wants what is best and good for us, and guess what that is? Himself, God and God alone. We fight it so much, and yet we do ourselves a disservice when we become “weary in well doing”. So push through the mundane, through the doldrums, and find your joy again–in God our Creator, Father, Savior, and King. It’s what you were born for!