Reading passage:- Malachi 1:1-14.
1.The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
2.I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,
3.And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
4.Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.
5.And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.
6.A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7.Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8.And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
9.And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.
10.Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11.For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
12.But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
13.Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.
14.But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Have you ever had to think that God does not love you? If yes, you are not alone! The people of Judah felt the same way due to the very difficult political and economic situation they were going through.
Hence their question in verse 2.
However,vs2-5 shows that God loves them, not because of what they did or didn't do,but because he had chosen to do so.
In Romans 9:10-16 we can see that God chooses to love whom he wants and no one can question him.
Verse 16 of Romans 9 captures my attention, it read thus:-
- So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
No matter what you think you are doing in life,if God hasn't chosen to show you mercy, then you can not succeed.
No matter how hard you run or fight to be at the top without God's backing all your hard work is futile.
God's love for us is unconditional (Romans 5:8). He loved us while we were yet sinners.
He loved us when we never realised that we actually needed his love,it never crossed our minds that we needed his love,but despite our negligence to him and ignorance of him, he commended his love towards us by sending his only begotten son to die for us, wow what a mighty God we serve, Hallelujah.
The problem of Judah was that they dishonored God, if a master is honoured by his servant and a Father is honoured by his son,then Gos needed to be honoured but the people of Judah never did so, rather they despised his name. (Verse 6).
Before I continue ask your self in what way have you dishonored God, is it through the way you dress,talk, eat, or perhaps cheating at the market place, or owing your labourers their salary etc, just think.
In verse (7,8,12,13 and 14) we can see that God doesn't need us to give our money and material things grudgingly or serve with halfhearted commitment.
Let's give happily without compulsion least if we do not then we will be giving imperfect and wrong sacrifices which will attract no blessings at the end.
Remember God is not and will never be a beggar. He deserves the best of our life, time,money and other resources.
Reflection :- Check the way you have been serving God. In what areas do you need to make corrections?
Begin now and pray for grace to be consistent.
May God help us to worship him in spirit and in truth.
Thanks for stopping by to read.
I am @prettyglo