For the Cause of Christ

 

Today I was reading in Malachi chapter 1 and meditating on what I read. Immediately, some images and thoughts popped in my mind.

In the second part of chapter 1, we read about priests that were polluting offerings given to the Lord. God says in verse 6 this: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?”

What God was saying was, a son gives obedience and respect that his parents deserve in their household; a servant does what his master requires or deserves, but why are the expected consideration not given to the Lord? Why is He not even on the level of what we are expected to give our earthly relations? Shouldn’t we be going above and beyond what we would offer to a parent or earthly master? Instead, He was offered less. There was no attribution of respect, fear, and duty. God told them they had defiled their offerings to Him. They acted like this was a newsflash to them. “What are you talking about? How did we despise You?!?”

They saved the poorest excuse of a lamb or fruits in their offerings. Their animals were lame, blind, and blemished---not at all what was acceptable to offer. They had acceptable animals and fruits in their possession, but they didn’t bother take their offering to the Lord seriously. They had a requirements checklist they followed. They gave the least to fulfill an obligation. Just enough to get by. "Maybe God won’t notice. We can save our choice for market where we can make top dollar." The heart wasn’t in it.

God said it would have been better off to offer nothing, rather than trying to do what they were doing. Would you go to a grocery store and buy a moldy head of lettuce for dinner and be content with that? Why would it even enter one's head to think that God would be pleased with a few wilted leaves we had left over after He had already blessed us with a bountiful harvest season?

I quickly went to other “offerings” we offer out of an obligatory heart. What about that prayer I offered this morning for my bagel before I ate it? “Thank you for this food, Amen.” How much of a heart of thankfulness was present there? How often would God think that we would have been better off to have just delved into the breakfast rather than offering a cookie-cutter utterance. That sat with me for quite a while after I thought of that. It was truly humbling. How long has it been since we approached God’s throne with a truly humble appreciative, "Thank you," in a way that shows we really mean it? How many offerings are offered on auto-pilot with no true thought going into the words we take before Him?

This week I have had the thought of thankfulness as I look at the years of messages God has taken His time to pass along to me. I recently dragged out another bundle of lyrics and melodies. Many of them, I have held onto for thirty years or more. When I read through the lyrics, I am amazed at how the message God shared with me so long ago has seemed tailor-written for my current life.. I have been attempting to take the time to thank Him for entrusting those words to me. I have tried to spend time and prayer to discover what He wants me to do to offer all this back to Him.

I will not be giving Him the equivalent of  blind sheep or bruised avocados in my offering back to Him. He truly is worthy of all we have. I pray that I carry that forward in everything I offer Him.