“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices? ’ “You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings.”
Malachi 1:6-10 NLT
As I was praying about what the Lord would have me write for our devotional today I asked him specifically to show me what he wanted to speak not only to myself but to our team as an entirety.
In the book of Malachi we find the Jews have returned from exile in Babylonia and have built the temple and reinstated the priesthood and worship. It only took a few generations to pass before the Jews became complacent in their faith. Even the priest became corrupt and careless in carrying out their duties. Malachi prophesied against the peoples insincere worship and their lack of concern for God's commands but he also promised them great blessings for their obedience.
Here are just a few things The Lord said defile our Worship.
* Lack of respect for God
* Failing to give Him His due honor
* Giving Him less than our best.
The people were showing content for God's name in disrespecting who he is by not giving him their very best. People gave blind animals as sacrifices. Other people gave crippled and diseased animals to him as their offering. Then God says try giving those kind of gifts to your governor and see if he's pleased. Those gifts were not good enough for anyone let alone the God of all creation and King of glory.
In verse 10 the Lord says "I would rather have you close up the doors of the church than to be given less than the best by you. ". He tells them of His great displeasure but In Malachi 2:2 the Lord declares "Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name."
Although I do feel that the Lord brought this passage to my attention today to share with you, I don't believe it's because you are not giving your best each and every week. I believe it's a warning to not become insincere complacent or even lazy in our worship .
God has revealed all that He is in His Word. Once we see who He is, there will be no such thing as insincerity in our worship. Choose today to give Him your best in everything!
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