GIVE GOD YOUR BEST – (LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF THE PRIESTS IN MALACHI’S DAY)

All scripture quotations are ESV unless otherwise stated

LET US BEGIN!

‘A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor?
 And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence?
 Says the LORD of hosts
 to you priests who despise My name.

Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

“You offer defiled food on My altar,

But say,
 ‘In what way have we defiled You?’
 By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’
 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil?
 And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil?
 Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you?
 Would he accept you favorably?”
 Says the LORD of hosts.’

[MALACHI 1:6-8 NKJV]

In the old testament under the Law of Moses, the priests were required to set the best animal as a sacrifice upon the altar as on offering to God. And now under the new covenant (testament), now for those who are in Christ, there is no more need for animal sacrifice to earn God’s favour, as when a person is in Christ, He has God’s favour by virtue of being in Christ ‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ‘ [ROMANS 8:31-32]

And so now we do not offer sacrifices to God to gain right standing with him because that is DONE AND COMPLETED in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but we now are called to this…

‘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]. And what does Peter call those who are in Christ, ‘you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ [1 PETER 2:5].

And so the lesson to be learnt here is that the Great God Almighty is worthy of our very best, when the priests at that time (approx 400 years BC) offered the sacrifice upon the altar they were the dregs, not their best, the lesson now is for those who are in Christ we are now a ‘holy priesthood’, the lesson is to GIVE GOD THE BEST YOU HAVE WHETHER IT BE TIME, EFFORT, OR TALENT, not that he NEEDS it; but that he is WORTHY of it.

God bless YOU!

Bow down and worship Him – Bishop Paul S Morton

Here I am to worship – Hillsong