December 10: 1 Samuel 15:22; Proverbs 21:3; Hosea 12:6; Micah 6:8; Mark 12:33; Luke 10:39; Luke 10:42; Philippians 2:13; Genesis 12:7; Job 32:8; Ecclesiastes 3:21; Ecclesiastes 12:7; John 14:2–3; 1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 - a podcast by Crossway

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?—“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”—“And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

“So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.”—Mary… sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching…. “One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”—It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

1 Samuel 15:22(Listen)

22 And Samuel said,

  “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
    as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to listen than the fat of rams.

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Proverbs 21:3(Listen)

3   To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

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Hosea 12:6(Listen)

6   “So you, by the help of your God, return,
    hold fast to love and justice,
    and wait continually for your God.”

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Micah 6:8(Listen)

8   He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the LORD require of you
  but to do justice, and to love kindness,¹
    and to walk humbly with your God?

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Mark 12:33(Listen)

33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

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Luke 10:39(Listen)

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

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Luke 10:42(Listen)

42 but one thing is necessary.¹Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

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Philippians 2:13(Listen)

13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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The spirit returns to God who gave it.

The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.—“But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.”—“The first man Adam became a living being.”—The spirit of man goes upward.

While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord…. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.—My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.—But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Genesis 12:7(Listen)

7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

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Job 32:8(Listen)

8   But it is the spirit in man,
    the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

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Ecclesiastes 3:21(Listen)

21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

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Ecclesiastes 12:7(Listen)

7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

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John 14:2–3(Listen)

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?¹3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

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1 Corinthians 15:45(Listen)

45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;¹the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

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2 Corinthians 5:6(Listen)

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

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2 Corinthians 5:8(Listen)

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

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Philippians 1:23(Listen)

23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

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1 Thessalonians 4:13–14(Listen)

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

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