Malachi 1:8-10
8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. 9And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. 10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.
This passage was written to Old Testament Jews who were losing step in there covenant relationship with God but it can be just as powerful to us today. This hit me hard because it comes down to the issue of the heart and worship. In Romans the bible says that your life should be a living sacrifice and your life should be your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2). The truth is that my heart is often misplaced and so this passage is for me. The Jews were just going through the motions of worship and giving God the left over’s. They were not giving God their whole self which is what He wanted. Specifically these Jews were giving the “bad” sheep as sacrifice, and leaving the good ones for themselves. They reason they did this is because those bad sheep would not sell for much. They were giving second and third best.
The same can be true for us, I know I often go to church and go through the motions or serve and help out but I do not have a humble serving heart. If God is my master and father then where is His respect and honor that he is due? Why do my actions and heart not line up? Why does this not bother me more?
I want to give God my all, I don’t want to be day dreaming while in church or saying a prayer to impress someone. I want an authentic relationship with Christ; this is what my heart longs for. Part of authenticity means giving Jesus all of you because this is what ultimately will fill our desires and longings. This is what we were made for; we were made to worship God.
We see God’s response to our lack luster worship of Him in verse 10. He gets sick of prayer meetings that only get used to gossip about other people, He gets sick of political power plays in church leadership, and He gets sick of people not being authentic and giving themselves wholly to Him.
In all of those cases we have a hidden problem. The problem is idolatry; we are worshiping something, or holding something in higher regard then God. The answer is to look at Jesus. There is no 10 step solution in order to give God your all. The solution is to become enthralled with Jesus himself, as He really is. Open your bible today and meet him. He is a good God who paid the penalty for your sin.
