“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.
“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.” Malachi 1:6-9,11-14
The prophet Malachi (“my messenger”) brings a stinging word to God’s beloved Israel, targeting their self-centeredness and laxness toward Him. Their Lord, King, Father, and Master is appalled by, and condemning of, their careless sacrifices and accompanying calloused reasoning and excuses. Their pompous attitude of privilege, desert, and ease had so hardened their hearts that they could not even recognize how far they’d fallen in their sense of God’s majesty and worthiness. Where was their lofty worship, their robust, sacrificial devotion? How dare their casualness toward the Lord of hosts, great in the nations?
In the here below we tend to bow our heads for the wrong things. We fix ourselves to devices and work, bend toward tasks and urgencies, look out to comparison and greedy wants, but not up to the light of Christ. We get so used to the spiritually mundane and settled in anemic devotion that we don’t realize soul embers have grown cold. This disgusts our King of kings, who is worthy of our best and first. (Revelation 3:15-16)
Have we become so accustomed to selfish living that we don’t recognize our greed? To polluted thinking, language, and entertainment that we don’t see the affront to the Holy One? Have we become so grand in our own eyes that we cannot see the grandeur of God? How do we take His grace and mercy for granted, rather than with humble, generous gratitude?
Lord, expose my irreverent, casual attitudes, and accustom me only to Your splendor and greatness, so daily I give You the full honor You deserve.
As the rain and snow 