“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?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. 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. And 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. 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. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” [1]
It is astonishing, to say nothing of fostering deep concern, to discover that an offering presented before the Lord, a gift meant as an act of worship, can pollute the Lord Whom we claim to worship by bringing that gift! However, that is precisely the charge that the LORD God levelled against worshippers among His ancient peoples, as recorded in our text. Aren’t offerings voluntarily given? Don’t we determine what we will give and then bring that which we’ve decided to give? Isn’t that the statement Peter made to a man and his wife who attempted to deceive the first congregation that was established in Jerusalem?
You will recall how this couple who were members of the first church, thought to deceive the church, which is tantamount to attempting to deceive the Spirit of God. You may recall the pointed words Peter spoke as he exposed Ananias. “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God” [ACTS 5:3-4]. With that, the man who thought he could deceive God was struck dead.
However, the judgement of God was not finished, for Ananias’ wife, Sapphira, had agreed to share in the lie. When Peter asked her to verify whether the story her husband had attempted to tell was accurate, she agreed, saying, “Yes, for so much” [ACTS 5:8b]. At this, Peter pronounced judgement. “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out” [ACTS 5:9].
Haven’t we learned the lessons cautioning against polluting the God of Heaven during times past as we participated in the act of giving during the services of our church? Permit me to iterate truths concerning giving that I have enumerated on multiple occasions throughout my years of service among the churches of our Lord. Giving, as taught in the Word of God, is an act of worship. Because it is an act of worship, the gifts we bring are voluntary. God does not coerce His people to give; He invites them to worship through the act of giving.
Through the Word of the Lord, we learn that giving that pleases God is:
• sacrificial and
• it is always generous.
• The gifts we present as our worship are to be thoughtful
• and responsive.
• Our giving is to be systematic, proportionate, and faithful.
• Finally, our giving must always demonstrate spiritual maturity.
I have referred to such giving as outlined in these concepts as grace giving—giving that please the Lord as taught in the Word of God.
We witness these principles as we read what Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians. He wrote, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
“I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack’” [2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-15].
Well, if this is giving and not tithing, then how can any gift despise the Name of God? Our gifts are not a tax; we do not give under compunction or as result of a command. How can the gift that is brought voluntarily pollute the God of Heaven? If what is brought is not coerced or compelled or commanded, how can the gift be dishonouring? That is the question I shall endeavour to answer through appeal to the Word of God. Whatever we may determine in our consideration of the size of gifts we bring and when we shall give those gifts, we do not wish to dishonour the Name of the Lord. Rather, it is always our goal to honour Him in all things.
CONFRONTED BY THE LORD OF HOSTS — “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” [MALACHI 1:6a]. I have served several congregations in which members whinged and whined, “I work hard all week, and I come to church to be affirmed! You make me feel bad with your sermons!” This complaint has been delivered often enough to cause me to think the sentiment must be more common than I could have imagined. But is the pitiful cry justified? Does anyone attend the services of a church just so they can be affirmed?
To be sure, I labour over the messages I deliver, striving to ensure that what I say honours the Lord. I want to make certain that I am aligned with what the Lord has revealed in His Word. Undoubtedly, I will not always “feel good” about myself when I see the Word of God. I am a sinful being; and you who hear me are far from perfect! This is the reason we need a Saviour Who is perfect.
It was this inherent imperfection in the flesh that compelled the Apostle to write the plaintive lament found in the seventh chapter of Romans. The Apostle has written, “Did that which is good, [the Law] … bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” [ROMANS 7:13-24]?
What a pitiful lament; and it is a lament with which every one of us can identify. We want to do what is good and what is honourable. That is especially true when we are endeavouring to walk in harmony with the Lord. And yet, we seem to continually stumble, giving in to our sinful nature. We employ our tongues to demean and debase people rather than building them up and speaking of the grace and goodness of the Lord. We feed our minds on worthless and trivial matters rather than training ourselves to think of what is noble and honourable. We surrender to the bitterness of this fallen world rather than focusing on those things that are true, and just, and pure, or those things that are commendable. We act as we do despite knowing the Word of the Lord, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” [LUKE 6:43-45].
The Apostle had moaned, “Who will deliver me from this body of death” [ROMANS 7:24]? And immediately after the cri de coeur he delivered the only answer that will suffice when he wrote, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” [ROMANS 7:25]. Thanks be to God, indeed. The answer to our plea for deliverance is found in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Honorifics roll off our tongue easily whenever we speak of Jesus our Master. Too often, I fear, we use these designations without thinking. And what we say is often far removed from how we act toward the Lord our God. A father is to be honoured. How much more should such honour be given to the One True God Who redeems us! If He is our Father, should we not treat Him as a father. A master is to be treated with respect, even revealing a measure of awe. How much greater should be our awe when we come into the presence of the Risen Lord of Glory Whom we call “Master.”
We come into the precincts of the assembly of the righteous. Do we enter in humility knowing that we will be in the presence of the Son of God? Or do we come to the House of the Lord with a sense of obligation? Do we come anticipating that we will be blessed as our hearts are filled with joy and as the Father showers grace and mercy upon us? Or do we come because we are convinced that God is indebted to us because we are worthy of His praise? As Malachi pens the words of our text, he understands that he is picturing a grievous, a dreadful, an awful insult brought by people who profess to love God, though there is little evidence of that love displayed through their attitudes.
The LORD, through this ancient prophet, will bemoan, “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” [MALACHI 1:10]. It is as though God is crying out, “How I wish that there were even one among you who had enough integrity to shut the doors against worship without a heart! Then, no one would merely pretend to worship!” The people coming into the presence of the LORD were going through the motions without ever engaging the heart.
What was needed was precisely what was happening as Malachi wrote this book bearing his name. The LORD was confronting His people, charging them with conducting a form of worship that failed to meet Him. As happens in too many churches in this day, the people sang the hymns of Zion without actually praising God. They said prayers without ever asking one thing of the LORD. They heard the Word as it was read though it never found lodging in their hearts. They heard the prophetic message and nothing changed in their lives. Therefore, God would need to confront them to shock them out of their spiritual lethargy.
POLLUTING THE LORD OF HOSTS — “You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s Table may be despised. 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. And 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. 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. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s Table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or are lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” [MALACHI 1:6b-14].
Confronted by their perfidy, the religious and civic elite of that ancient day reacted much like the religious and political elite of this day with dismissal, with obfuscation, with “whataboutism.” “You accuse me of waste, fraud, and malfeasance? Oh, look! A squirrel!” The standard response of religious leaders even to this day when charges with faithlessness is denial, deflection, and duplicity. The old fraud exposed in our text is with us to this day. Too often, religious leaders defend the institutions they represent with far greater vigour than they will defend the Name of the Master. They dare not allow the name of their denomination or the practise of their agencies be questioned. But they are more than willing to allow the Saviour to be demeaned through showing acceptance of every cult and sect despite denial of the Saviour.
I do want to note that our gifts given as an act of worship is far less important, and assuredly less consequential, than is the attitude behind our giving. You may recall an incident that was recorded in several Gospel. Here is the record of the incident as Mark recorded it. “[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on’” [MARK 12:41-44].
Many people with the capacity to give sizeable sums were putting their gifts into the offering box. I suppose it is reasonable to assume that among those giving at that time were some who managed to draw attention to themselves, much as Jesus observed at another time. It was an earlier time when Jesus was teaching a vast crowd of people that He warned, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” [MATTHEW 6:1-4]. This really happens!
In one church I pastored, one member was a successful businessman. He would often purchase myriad items as gifts for the church. He didn’t consult with the congregation or discuss his purchases with the deacons, he just made the purchase and presented what he bought as though he had just descended from Mount Olympus. A day came that I was compelled to confront him for behaviour unrelated to his gifts. Enraged, this man let me know that he would take back his gifts! It was obvious that his actions were meant to awe people rather than being meant to honour the Lord Whom he claimed to love.
In the account of the widow’s gift, Jesus was watching people as they worshipped through giving, an impoverished widow shuffled up to the offering box. I can imagine that she was poorly dressed, her garments were worn and even patched and her shawl threadbare, so that it was obvious even to a casual observer that she possessed little of the goods of this world. In her hand she clutched a cloth; when she untied the cloth she took out two lepta which she dropped into the offering box. A lepton was a copper coin worth about eight or nine cents in Canadian currency. Certainly, her eighteen cents wouldn’t make a dent in the amount received for the needs of the Temple that day. However, she was grateful to God for His mercy, and though it was all she possessed—all that stood between her and doing without food that day—she gave the gift as an act of worship before the God of Heaven and earth.
Apart from the Saviour Himself, I doubt that anyone paid attention either to that poor widow or to what she dropped into the offering box that day. She moved as a phantom through the worshippers thronging the temple precincts. Jesus’ disciples hadn’t paid attention to this woman; I know this because Jesus had to call them to gather themselves to Him so He could provide them with needed instruction. They hadn’t even known they needed to be taught about this business of giving. The widow moved through life without anyone being aware of her because in the eyes of this world she was unimportant. But she was valuable to the Master! He saw what she gave and He recognised her gift as being of great significance—so great that He used it as a teachable moment for disciples then and for centuries after.
There is a crucial point that I suspect is easily overlooked. The text before us implies that worshippers were polluting the LORD through giving that was marked by perfidy, giving that was characterised as duplicitous, giving that was stinting. We read what was being done, and we might conclude that the charge is focused solely on the act of giving. To be sure, giving was in view! However, we must not conclude that what we give and the attitude with which we give is the sole focus of the charge God makes through Malachi. Carefully note the LORD’s response to the arrogant denial of the people when the charge is first presented: “How have we polluted you” [MALACHI 1:6b]? There is a clear effort to deflect and to justify their actions.
To the effort to deflect from their unfaithfulness, the LORD responds, “By saying that the Lord’s Table may be despised. 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” [MALACHI 1:7b-8a]? In short, God was charging that He was not being worshipped, though the people were going through the motions. They were performing all the rites, but there was no heart in what they were doing. They knew the rituals, and were even meticulous in performing the various rites prescribed under the Law, but their heart was not in their actions!
It is apparent that going through the motions without a heart for God does not qualify as worship. How often have we seen something akin to this among the churches of our Lord. I recall an incident in a congregation I served briefly. The congregation had been fractured and I was requested to bring healing to the broken body through my service. God blessed almost immediately and the building began to fill with people coming to worship. Soon, the building was overflowing and there was not sufficient room to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend services. At that point, I recommended that we initiate a second service. My recommendation was accepted by the leadership team, and soon after initiating a second service, the building was again filling with people seeking to worship.
It was at this point that a worship leader began to grumble. She complained that she had to sing twice on the Sundays she was scheduled to lead! Twice! I commented to her that I had to speak twice each Sunday, and I counted that a blessing because it meant that we had more people coming to the House of the Lord. It didn’t matter to her! She wasn’t prepared to sing twice in the same day. When I suggested that I would lead the music and she could just attend when it was convenient for her to be there, he was offended. She led her worship team every other Sunday, but she couldn’t sing more than once on the day she was to lead her team! There was no compromise; she would lead only one service on the Sunday she was scheduled to lead.
This was impossible to see as something other than a woman determined to perform and to be seen. To be sure, she was a talented woman blessed with a beautiful voice. She was a capable musician, but for her, the worship team was nothing more than an opportunity to promote herself. She had no heart for God. Tragically, she was not an exception in the pantheon of contemporary worship among the churches of our Lord.
And too often, it will be evident that the elders of the congregation see their service as a way to advance themselves rather than an opportunity to serve. In many churches, elders function as though they are executive board members. They are chosen based on their business acumen or because they possess wealth and are seen as powerful. They are decision makers, though the character requirements set forth in the Pastoral Epistles are ignored. Elders chosen to be executives often see their position in much the same way that board members of major corporations view their service—it is a way to advance themselves in the world.
Many congregations know that elders are to teach, so they will designate the pastoral staff as elders, and then make a distinction between “ruling elders” and “teaching elders.” Well, whatever else we may say about this situation, it is a novel approach to the instruction provided in the Word. Whatever else is true for biblical elders, the teaching of the Word is quite clear in demanding that the elders must be “able to teach” [see 1 TIMOTHY 3:2; 2 TIMOTHY 2:2, 24]. Writing Titus, Paul is even more pointed in insisting, “[The elder] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” [TITUS 1:9].
Within the churches of our Lord, more frequently than I could wish, I have heard sermons presented that were ever so carefully crafted to draw the admiration of those who listen, but when examined for how these same sermons honour the Risen Saviour, I was unable to find evidence that the Spirit of Christ was motivating the Speaker. On multiple occasions I have listened as preachers delivered a sermon that never once compelled the listeners to lift their eyes to the Saviour. On one occasion, I was seated with a large audience as the guest preacher invested most of his time in the pulpit delivering a political polemic. He lambasted the President of the United States and failed to mention the Saviour until the very end of his performance. As he closed his presentation, he suddenly spoke of the Father’s anguish as the Son of God gave His life as a sacrifice. The preacher than delivered a tearful, impassioned plea for his listeners to give their lives to serve the Saviour Who sacrificed so much for us.
As I left the service that evening, a prominent businesswoman walked alongside of me as she said, “Doctor Stark, wasn’t that a moving sermon!”
I paused as I turned to this dear lady and said, “Mary, I don’t know what you heard tonight, but I heard a Baptist bully. It takes no particular courage to demean the President of the United States in a community that is composed heavily with members of a political party other than the one to which the President belongs. Moreover, I’m uncertain how I am to reconcile the words of this preacher with the charge delivered by the Apostle to the Gentiles when he commanded, ‘I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way’” [1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2].
I could have pointed to Paul’s response when he reacted to the unjust slap delivered at the behest of the High Priest. Recall how the Apostle apologised, saying, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people’” [ACTS 23:5].
The lady with whom I was speaking that evening was clearly taken aback, and she responded, “Well, I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose you are right.”
The methodology I observed that night has been repeated far too often in services where I was present. It is bad enough that there are preachers who speak without saying anything, but even more disappointing in my view is the fact that there exists congregations that want it to be thus. They don’t want to hear the voice of the prophet; they want smooth things.
As I wrote those words, my mind turned to the dark words given to Jeremiah, who wrote,
“An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?”
[JEREMIAH 5:30-31]
Indeed, the people loved to have it so; and too often in this day the people only want to hear those things that make them feel good about themselves. Nor should anyone imagine that Jeremiah alone observed this drift into polluting the God of Heaven. Listen to Isaiah as he spoke against the same drift among the people of God.
“And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.
For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the LORD;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’”
[ISAIAH 30:8-11]
Here is the heart of God’s message delivered through the words penned by Malachi: Worship the Lord with full understanding of Who He is. See that every facet of your life is to be engaged as you serve the Lord. Do you bring your offering as an act of worship? Ensure that you are giving to honour Him. Do you present your service as an act of worship? Take to heart the charge that teaches us, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” [ROMANS 12:1]. Whether singing, or praying, or receiving the Word as it is delivered, act with commitment to honour the Saviour. In speaking with others to encourage them or to point them to life in the Beloved Son, do so while seeking the glory of the Lord Christ.
Peter would state the proposition in this way: “Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” [1 PETER 4:8-11].
THE HIGH COST OF POLLUTING THE LORD OF HOSTS THROUGH OUR WORSHIP — “Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” [MALACHI 1:14].
We are a broken, sinful race. At our best and trying ever so hard to honour the Lord Who redeemed us, we fail. In the case cited in the fourteenth verse, the LORD speaks of the personas a cheat who makes a vow and then attempts to find a way to circumvent fulfilling what is vowed . And because that person is a cheat, God pronounces a curse on that one. Underscore in your mind that to fail to offer God your best is to invoke a curse. And I am assured that none of us want to bring down on our head the Lord’s curse.
In the Pentateuch, God pronounces curses on those who refuse to obey Him. Listen as Moses writes the dark words of warning. “If you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
“The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me” [DEUTERONOMY 28:15-20]. And the dreadful cursing is just beginning! God continues with distressingly specific statements of how His curses will be applied.
Take just a moment to think back over your life. Isn’t it the case that when you sought the Lord with all your heart—coming into the assembly intending to honour Him and to meet Him, seeking Him as you search the Word, pausing to hear Him as you prayed and worshipped—you were blessed? And haven’t you known those times when you allowed yourself to be turned away from seeking Him and His will, that like Peter when he had taken his eyes off the Master, you found yourself sinking beneath the waves. In fact, it is possible that someone listening at this moment is merely going through the motions of serving God. There is no joy in what you do, and your gifts are given grudgingly, if at all. Your service is mere performance. And the result is that you are cursed—and the worst part is that you know you are cursed!
Isn’t it time for you to face up to the fact that through the words of Malachi you realise that the Living God has confronted you? Isn’t it time for you to realise that the Lord is trying to get your attention, not to pummel you or to injure you! Rather, isn’t it time for you to acknowledge that the Saviour is seeking what is best for you. He appointed you to some service, but you have yet to fulfil His appointment. In the interim, the service that would honour the Lord has yet to be fulfilled. God spoke to you to do some special task, to carry some special message of hope to a family member, to a friend. Somehow, the responsibility has never been accepted. In your heart, you know that the time to act is now. I will urge you to act with urgency born of determination to glorify the Name of the Saviour to speak from your heart saying, “Lord, here I am. Let me do that which you have appointed me to do. Here, Lord, I present my life to be used as You will. Only renew my zeal for You. Only fill me with Your Spirit so that I may fulfil Your call.”
May God remove His curse from His people, filling us with His Good Spirit as we serve. May He perform this sacred work even this day. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
