Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
Jesus quoted the 1st half of this verse twice in the Gospel of Matthew.The 1st time in chapter 9:
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
a For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The 2nd time in chapter 12:
7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’
b you would not have condemned the innocent."
Since Jesus told the pharisees to go learn what this means,I looked up this verse in Hosea decades ago when I was a young Christian. Jesus teaches 2 things in the complete verse "For I desire mercy & not sacrifice" means that He wants our heart.All of our heart.All the time.David said it well in Psalm 51:
16You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
The 2nd part says "and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings".He wants our lives to show the God we know.What good is it if we were to give all we had to God,& then walk away.He wants others to see Him in us.The greatest offering that we can give God is to live Jesus in front of a lost & dying world.This is not a place to get to,so much as a work in progress.Believe it or not,if you are far away from God today,you can turn back to Him.He died on a cross for the right to live His life in & through us.Let us do as Jesus commanded,& one day at a time "go learn what this means"