“I desire mercy and not sacrifice…”

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
–Hosea 6:6

The Lord’s desire is for us to show love, not offer sacrifices. God would rather have right hearts, full of truth and mercy than sacrifice.

It repulses God when religious experts—those who know a lot about God—go through the motions of serving God with impenitent hearts towards God. No amount of religious razzle-dazzle on the outside could ever make up for the lack of reality on the inside. God desires mercy, not the sacrifices to cover sin without ever feeling sorry for or repenting of sin.

You can know a lot about the Lord and entirely miss knowing Him. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day demonstrated that. They knew a lot about God—but they missed the heart of God and focused on the wrong and superficial things. Loving your neighbor and genuinely knowing the Lord is more important to Him than knowing a lot about Him and treating others poorly. 

In light of this, can learn from the experience of those who are written about in Zechariah and heed the word of the Lord given to them:

“Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.”
–Zechariah 7:9-10