An Empty-Handed Obedience

No one is to appear before Me empty-handed. - Exodus 34:20

Because God had spared the first-born of Israel through the Passover, He required that every first-born male (human or animal) be consecrated to Him. In place of actually killing a first-born son, a family would pay the redemption price of a half-shekel to the priests. It was in this context that God warned against an empty-handed obedience.

We who belong to Christ have likewise been "passed over." The price of our redemption, the reason we have been spared is the life and shed blood of Christ. If a person who claims to belong to Christ lives as if God has no claim to his life, then he is a clear, living example of an empty-handed faith.

You and I may not have much, but we each have a life, and that life belongs to God in Christ Jesus.

With complete consecration comes perfect peace. - Watchman Nee