One of my favorite books of the Bible is the Old Testament book of Malachi. It is so practical. Malachi was written by the last prophet of Israel after the Israelites had returned from Babylon, restored Jerusalem, and built another temple. In Hebrew, the name Malachi means “my messenger.” The message: The people of Israel had grown tired of responding to God’s love. They had hardened their hearts. Their faith had turned cold and now they were only going through the motions of worshiping and sacrificing to God. They were dishonoring His name by worshiping apathetically. The Israelites were pretending spiritually.
I came across Malachi 1:8-10 one day last November and have been thinking about it over the last several months: “’And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorable?’ Says the Lord of hosts” (NKJV).
This verse addresses spiritual pretenders who offer sacrifices to God that are not even fit for their own human authority. Theses spiritual pretenders defile God’s altar with their leftover, blemished, half-hearted sacrifices and then wonder why God is displeased with them. If the Israelites’ governor wouldn’t accept the half-hearted sacrifice how much more would God reject it?
As I meditated on this verse, I questioned my own spiritual condition. In my life, do I bring the Lord half-hearted sacrifices? What is my heart posture when I worship the Lord? Do I attend church out of habit, because it makes me look like a “good” Christian, or it’s the “Christian thing to do?” Or do I have an authentic passion for the Lord, devoting that time to praising His name, remembering His faithfulness, expecting to hear from Him? The sermon, “Rekindling your spiritual passion” preached by Mark Job, addressed a lack of passion within the church this way: “The greatest challenges the church faces are the passion of the church of the living God, and the declining passion of the people of God because our image of this holy, magnificent, omnipotent God has shrunken to a manageable size that culture and we seem to be very comfortable with.” When I attend church just to check it off my “Christian to-do list,” I am not deceiving the God of the universe. On the contrary, I deceive myself thinking He will accept my apathetic praise. I waste my time worshiping the Lord indifferently, reluctantly, if indeed I am a “pretender.” God would rather me not even attempt to offer a sacrifice than to offer a blemished one. He would rather me stay home than worship passively or with the wrong motives.
The King of kings deserves our full, undivided attention. He will not be fooled by callous hearts. As last week's topic covered, we owe the Lord our whole being (you can read the post here: https://hattienovak.wixsite.com/website/post/what-do-i-owe). His great name “is to be feared among the nations” (mal. 1:14).
What motivates you to worship the Lord?
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