Today’s Reading: Malachi 1-2
A QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY
Do you ever question why we have some of our traditions or why we do the same things year after year? Is it our responsibility to carry on these traditions? After God’s people returned to Jerusalem, they asked the question: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?”
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply: “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?” – Zechariah 7:3-6
A QUESTION OF SINCERITY
A question of responsibility was answered by a question of sincerity. God was exposing the heart of His people. I have to admit I feel a little exposed as well. How often do we go through the motions on a Sunday morning? Has the worship become more about what pleases us or are we sincerely offering our praise to God so that He will be pleased? How often do religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter become more about family traditions, food and gifts than about God? Has our time with God become more of a routine than a growing relationship with Christ?
The prophet Malachi also spoke of the tendency of God’s people to offer less than their best to God — to sacrifice for the sake of fulfilling a ritual instead of making a true sacrifice of the heart.
A QUESTION OF SACRIFICE
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
Wow! That was a really strong message. Can you hear the heart of God behind this reprimand? Would you be surprised to hear the Lord say the same thing to us today? Our sacrifices and offerings to God are defiled when we give less than our best. He wants us to give from our heart, genuinely showing our love and faithfulness. He wants us to give to please Him and not to please ourselves, or to satisfy the minimum requirement of being a member of a congregation.
Father God, give us a fresh passion for the rituals of our faith. May we open your word with a new desire to hear from you. May we sing your praises with a heart that is open to the moving of your Spirit. Lord, wake us up from the habit of prayer and give us a passion for sincerely calling out to you. We are ready to stop looking for the minimum requirement and start chasing after you with a sincere heart willing to love sacrificially. Amen.