Below I'm pasting my newsletter articles for the past two weeks. Both deal with the book of Malachi, so I thought I would put them in the same post.
I began working through Malachi today, which for me, sadly ends my trek through the key stories and characters of the Old Testament study I’ve been working though for most of 2007. I went into it not expecting much, but realized very quickly that just because it is the last book in the Old Testament, it still packs a punch. It actually deals with some key concepts in worship that I think that are important reminders for us. In the first chapter (1:11-13), Malachi reminds a very lazy people about how God feels about worship. This is a somewhat more colloquial reading from the Message version of Scriptures.
"I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.' "All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, 'Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,' and when you say, 'I'm bored—this doesn't do anything for me.' You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it's a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I'm going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
God’s message is clear to us. Worship is important, and what we bring to worship is important! The people in Malachi’s day were trying to short-change God by bringing in animals that were flawed and imperfect as sacrifices. In other words, they were not giving their best to a God, who in the very first verses in chapter one begins by saying “I Love You!” Let me encourage you to give Your best to God in this new year. Give your best to God through faithful giving of the tithe. Give your best to God though humble acts of service both within the church and without. Give your best to God through allowing focus on ONLY Him in our corporate worship times. And as alluded to in the passage above, our gifts to him must be done in the proper attitudes. Oh, and by the way, in case you feel I’m getting too “preachy” here, Malachi also later has words for the “priests” as well.
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God loves You. He really does! I mentioned last week in Malachi that the first thing mentioned in this book of prophecy (and judgment) is the fact that He loves us. And as if God saying it weren’t enough, God explains throughout the first chapter how he has showed it to then nation Israel through the blessing of Jacob’s lineage. God loves, He forgives, and He shows grace. So should we. However, much of Malachi speaks on judgment. Chapter one speaks of the people not giving their best. Chapter two deals with priests who were promoting false teachings. Chapter three deals with robbing God through the withholding of tithes. Chapter four, the final chapter, appropriately deals with the great Day of Judgment to come. I realize that this is ancient Israel we are talking about here, but are these issues that far from ones that we see happening in Christ’s church today?
Yes, I believe our God is loving. But I also believe our God is just. Through belief in Christ and what He has done for us, and through the grace of God the Father, we as Christians now share in the inheritance of eternal life. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We cannot campaign before God Almighty for our souls. Only Jesus, as the sacrifice, can do that on our behalf. But in that, has God through grace, “let us off easy?” Ultimately, yes. However, I do want to clarify that our sin, although forgiven, often (but not always) carries natural consequences that even the most repentant heart will have to bear. Now a repentant heart will not have to bear this ALONE – The Holy Spirit’s counsel guides during these times. To flesh out the example, if I had an internal sinful thought to which I entertained and dwelled upon, then I repented, there would probably be no further repercussions. However, I once had a friend that was imprisoned once for a very serious crime. I spoke with this individual after their legal conviction and could see their repentance. Still, they had to go to jail. That was a natural consequence. Did God forgive them? Of course! Perhaps even the folks directly affected by the crime did as well. Repentance, true repentance is the key. And my friends, only God knows the innermost being, and can only be the full judge of that.
So, God does love us. He really does! But if we love Him in return, we should show it by our changed lives. We should not complain about the consequences our own actions (or inaction) have created. We should praise God for His grace, thank Him for His discipline, and love Him for His Son. And we should remember that God’s grace isn’t an excuse for us to live however we wish. As Paul said in Romans 6:1-2,
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
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