Weekly Meditations: Malachi 1

Malachi 1

Malachi prophesies during the time when the exiles of Israel have come back from Babylon. They have rebuilt the temple and are worshipping God like they should. Or so it seems. They are worshipping at the right times and are giving the right sacrifices in the right place. How could they be in the wrong? Well God points out two things in this chapter. They are offering up sick or blemished animals for sacrifices and offering food that is against the rules. We might look at this and wonder what all the fuss is about. Is God so strict that he’s getting this picky? Well let’s ignore for a moment the fact that the people are disobeying regulations they know. Why are they worshipping in this way? God says they are defiling his name and they don’t revere him. That’s why they are breaking the rules, they don’t care enough about God to worship properly. True worship costs something. Giving up a sick animal or offering food you don’t like costs nothing, so you’re not really sacrificing anything. The heart behind the perfect animal being offered means that God knows that person loves Him enough to sacrifice something of value. If they’re willing to give up a healthy animal to God, they truly care about him. Today we do this same thing. We don’t revere God enough to truly worship him. It happens in churches all over. We go to a building, sing a few songs, pray a prayer, listen to a message and go home. We don’t sacrifice anything to worship. But there are some who have to hide their gathering still today and some who have to give up family or friends to worship God. When we come to worship God we should do so with reverence and awe that God is able to be worshipped and he expects a humble heart and a willingness to serve. We should not see it as an obligation and a box to check every week. God deserves respect when we worship so whenever we worship, let’s remember that Jesus is our sacrifice, and we can praise God and should do so not  

with guilt or obligation, but with gladness and sincerity.