God likes and dislikes.
And do not neglect and sharing; with such sacrifices, God is pleased Hebrew 13:16
If I am to be a fruitful disciple, I must respect God ‘s likes and dislikes. The Bible is full of things God likes, and the things he dislikes. If I am to keep irritation out of our relationship, I must respect the fences of God.
I do this in human relationships, such as marriage, friendships, and church service. The only difference is that human relationships are often petty and selfish, whereas God’s fences are always pure.
God hates many things-He hates a proud look, a lying tongue, a murderous heart, a wicked heart, mischievous feet, lies, and troublemakers’ (Proverbs 6 17–19). But He particularly despises an empty sacrifice (Isaiah 1:14). If I offer that sacrifice with all the correctness of the law, yet without the heart affection to accompany it, it creates only an irritation and God’s heart.
The difficulty with the empty sacrifice is that I may never know when I am offering it. Mental mistakes are far more obvious than emotional mistakes. I cannot teach wrong doctrine very long before being found out, but who can examine the heart?
So, my sacrifices, like praise, prayer, gifts, and service must be constantly scrutinized by me, because I may be ever so correct in form yet ever so lacking in devotion. Do I say, “I love you, Lord”, and yet wince at the hypocrisy, you see in my heart? Lord, may I ever please you with the sacrifices of righteousness (Psalms 51:19) which is the sacrifice after your own heart.