Malachi 1:6-14
6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.
10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty."When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations."
The key highlight of these verses specifically point out the Greatness of God and how we need to constantly keep that in view. The people of Israel sinned by treating their offering to God with wanton disregard and offering blemished sacrifices. So great is such an attitude of disrespect that God proclaims a curse upon anyone who cheats God by offering anything unworthy or robbing Him of His duely deserve tithes and offerings. (see Malachi 3:8-10)
Similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 22:21 "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's", we need to fully understand that before a Almighty and Holy God, we need to be constantly mindful that God expects the best, He will not stand for anything second best or compromising.
In this word of warning to the Priests, God addresses the poor and lackadaisical attitude of the Priests. It's amazing that we see how the Priests themselves now look at their jobs contemptuously as burdensome chores, they also acknowledge the ugliness of the offering that they offer to God. Despite this, they still do not chide the people but go through the motions coldly while forgetting their calling to the Almighty, Holy God.
The first offering recorded in Genesis 4:3-5 records how Cain & Abel brought to God burnt offerings as worship and thanksgiving. Though Genesis does not record any account of God's instructions to Adam and his household, it is likely that Cain & Abel followed in the footsteps of their parents who had earlier walked and communed with God.
In the days of Moses, God specifically instructed the Jews of how and types of offerings which He required. Leviticus states that for any offerings, the people of God were to present to the priests lifestock without defect for sacrifice unto God (see Leviticus 1:4 and 3:1).
Sadly, over the years from Leviticus to Malachi, we see a great deterioration of the standards of the Priests of God. God did not changed his stand over the many years, the people's heart had grown cold, hardened and complacent. Even the priests were just going through the motions and serving God with profane attitudes.
Today in our generation, "slacking-off" is a common colloquial term used to describe destressing, lazing around or in hokkien speak -"nua-ing". So much so, that in teen's talk it has developed into a fun word with positive connotation. Beware of the spirit of sloth and laziness! If we think the warnings and account recorded in Malachi are not relevant to us, or if we say to ourselves, only the leaders of the church are the "Priests of God", it is time to awaken and repent.
Peter reminds the church of the new testiment times "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Similarly, that call of holiness is also expected of us.
Today, we don't have priests, we don't offering animals as sacrifices, what relevance is this all to us? All these sound logical, but we must alertly discern that the devil is always out to repackage the holy word of God and deceive us by appealing to our human intellect and compromising spirit. This results in us complacently coming to the house of God without reverence, dropping our offerings without much thoughts, hoping to encounter God with worship songs that would touch out emotions.
But it is time that we stop and ponder. Is it always the standard $2 note that we give for offering without any thoughts? Are the tithes that we give only offered out of extras that we get, like only during Chinese New Year red packets. How about birthday money? cash awards given by the school? temp job salary? monthly allowances? Are we cheating God of his offerings like what He declares in Malachi 3:8-10?
Do we make every point to come to God's house everyweekend, or do we place our family, personal appointments, school activities, CCA's, tuition/remedial programmes, Project work and anything that would prevent us from coming to the house of God?
Even when we come to church, do we make an attempt to reach the house of God on time? When we serve, do we serve with honour and reverence or just go through the motion, come dressed in casual flipflops, or come late?
In all the above issues, I'm sure we always have something logical, something reasonable to refute and give gracious excuses for. It may sound reasonable, but before the Almighty God, no compromise is acceptable. The standards of God are absolute and perfect. That's why even in the impoverished days of Malachi, God declares to his people that He will not be gracious, because if all these compromised excuses and attitudes that the people offer are not to be tolerated by a governor/king, what more the Almighty God of heaven and earth!
Till today, the Lord declares to us "I the LORD do not change".(Malachi 3:1) His requirements of excellence is still the same and He will not accept any compromises, our laziness, slack attitude or reasonable excuses. The bible says that God is a Holy God and his name is to be feared among the nations. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes and convict us to recognise His Glory and Awesomeness and compel us to give God the Glory due to His name.
blessings
M.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " (Matthew 16:24-26)
09 June 2006
Attitude Check
Malachi 1:6-14
6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.
10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty."When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations."
The key highlight of these verses specifically point out the Greatness of God and how we need to constantly keep that in view. The people of Israel sinned by treating their offering to God with wanton disregard and offering blemished sacrifices. So great is such an attitude of disrespect that God proclaims a curse upon anyone who cheats God by offering anything unworthy or robbing Him of His duely deserve tithes and offerings. (see Malachi 3:8-10)
Similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 22:21 "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's", we need to fully understand that before a Almighty and Holy God, we need to be constantly mindful that God expects the best, He will not stand for anything second best or compromising.
In this word of warning to the Priests, God addresses the poor and lackadaisical attitude of the Priests. It's amazing that we see how the Priests themselves now look at their jobs contemptuously as burdensome chores, they also acknowledge the ugliness of the offering that they offer to God. Despite this, they still do not chide the people but go through the motions coldly while forgetting their calling to the Almighty, Holy God.
The first offering recorded in Genesis 4:3-5 records how Cain & Abel brought to God burnt offerings as worship and thanksgiving. Though Genesis does not record any account of God's instructions to Adam and his household, it is likely that Cain & Abel followed in the footsteps of their parents who had earlier walked and communed with God.
In the days of Moses, God specifically instructed the Jews of how and types of offerings which He required. Leviticus states that for any offerings, the people of God were to present to the priests lifestock without defect for sacrifice unto God (see Leviticus 1:4 and 3:1).
Sadly, over the years from Leviticus to Malachi, we see a great deterioration of the standards of the Priests of God. God did not changed his stand over the many years, the people's heart had grown cold, hardened and complacent. Even the priests were just going through the motions and serving God with profane attitudes.
Today in our generation, "slacking-off" is a common colloquial term used to describe destressing, lazing around or in hokkien speak -"nua-ing". So much so, that in teen's talk it has developed into a fun word with positive connotation. Beware of the spirit of sloth and laziness! If we think the warnings and account recorded in Malachi are not relevant to us, or if we say to ourselves, only the leaders of the church are the "Priests of God", it is time to awaken and repent.
Peter reminds the church of the new testiment times "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Similarly, that call of holiness is also expected of us.
Today, we don't have priests, we don't offering animals as sacrifices, what relevance is this all to us? All these sound logical, but we must alertly discern that the devil is always out to repackage the holy word of God and deceive us by appealing to our human intellect and compromising spirit. This results in us complacently coming to the house of God without reverence, dropping our offerings without much thoughts, hoping to encounter God with worship songs that would touch out emotions.
But it is time that we stop and ponder. Is it always the standard $2 note that we give for offering without any thoughts? Are the tithes that we give only offered out of extras that we get, like only during Chinese New Year red packets. How about birthday money? cash awards given by the school? temp job salary? monthly allowances? Are we cheating God of his offerings like what He declares in Malachi 3:8-10?
Do we make every point to come to God's house everyweekend, or do we place our family, personal appointments, school activities, CCA's, tuition/remedial programmes, Project work and anything that would prevent us from coming to the house of God?
Even when we come to church, do we make an attempt to reach the house of God on time? When we serve, do we serve with honour and reverence or just go through the motion, come dressed in casual flipflops, or come late?
In all the above issues, I'm sure we always have something logical, something reasonable to refute and give gracious excuses for. It may sound reasonable, but before the Almighty God, no compromise is acceptable. The standards of God are absolute and perfect. That's why even in the impoverished days of Malachi, God declares to his people that He will not be gracious, because if all these compromised excuses and attitudes that the people offer are not to be tolerated by a governor/king, what more the Almighty God of heaven and earth!
Till today, the Lord declares to us "I the LORD do not change".(Malachi 3:1) His requirements of excellence is still the same and He will not accept any compromises, our laziness, slack attitude or reasonable excuses. The bible says that God is a Holy God and his name is to be feared among the nations. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes and convict us to recognise His Glory and Awesomeness and compel us to give God the Glory due to His name.
blessings
M.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " (Matthew 16:24-26)
6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
7 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.
10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.
12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty."When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations."
The key highlight of these verses specifically point out the Greatness of God and how we need to constantly keep that in view. The people of Israel sinned by treating their offering to God with wanton disregard and offering blemished sacrifices. So great is such an attitude of disrespect that God proclaims a curse upon anyone who cheats God by offering anything unworthy or robbing Him of His duely deserve tithes and offerings. (see Malachi 3:8-10)
Similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 22:21 "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's", we need to fully understand that before a Almighty and Holy God, we need to be constantly mindful that God expects the best, He will not stand for anything second best or compromising.
In this word of warning to the Priests, God addresses the poor and lackadaisical attitude of the Priests. It's amazing that we see how the Priests themselves now look at their jobs contemptuously as burdensome chores, they also acknowledge the ugliness of the offering that they offer to God. Despite this, they still do not chide the people but go through the motions coldly while forgetting their calling to the Almighty, Holy God.
The first offering recorded in Genesis 4:3-5 records how Cain & Abel brought to God burnt offerings as worship and thanksgiving. Though Genesis does not record any account of God's instructions to Adam and his household, it is likely that Cain & Abel followed in the footsteps of their parents who had earlier walked and communed with God.
In the days of Moses, God specifically instructed the Jews of how and types of offerings which He required. Leviticus states that for any offerings, the people of God were to present to the priests lifestock without defect for sacrifice unto God (see Leviticus 1:4 and 3:1).
Sadly, over the years from Leviticus to Malachi, we see a great deterioration of the standards of the Priests of God. God did not changed his stand over the many years, the people's heart had grown cold, hardened and complacent. Even the priests were just going through the motions and serving God with profane attitudes.
Today in our generation, "slacking-off" is a common colloquial term used to describe destressing, lazing around or in hokkien speak -"nua-ing". So much so, that in teen's talk it has developed into a fun word with positive connotation. Beware of the spirit of sloth and laziness! If we think the warnings and account recorded in Malachi are not relevant to us, or if we say to ourselves, only the leaders of the church are the "Priests of God", it is time to awaken and repent.
Peter reminds the church of the new testiment times "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Similarly, that call of holiness is also expected of us.
Today, we don't have priests, we don't offering animals as sacrifices, what relevance is this all to us? All these sound logical, but we must alertly discern that the devil is always out to repackage the holy word of God and deceive us by appealing to our human intellect and compromising spirit. This results in us complacently coming to the house of God without reverence, dropping our offerings without much thoughts, hoping to encounter God with worship songs that would touch out emotions.
But it is time that we stop and ponder. Is it always the standard $2 note that we give for offering without any thoughts? Are the tithes that we give only offered out of extras that we get, like only during Chinese New Year red packets. How about birthday money? cash awards given by the school? temp job salary? monthly allowances? Are we cheating God of his offerings like what He declares in Malachi 3:8-10?
Do we make every point to come to God's house everyweekend, or do we place our family, personal appointments, school activities, CCA's, tuition/remedial programmes, Project work and anything that would prevent us from coming to the house of God?
Even when we come to church, do we make an attempt to reach the house of God on time? When we serve, do we serve with honour and reverence or just go through the motion, come dressed in casual flipflops, or come late?
In all the above issues, I'm sure we always have something logical, something reasonable to refute and give gracious excuses for. It may sound reasonable, but before the Almighty God, no compromise is acceptable. The standards of God are absolute and perfect. That's why even in the impoverished days of Malachi, God declares to his people that He will not be gracious, because if all these compromised excuses and attitudes that the people offer are not to be tolerated by a governor/king, what more the Almighty God of heaven and earth!
Till today, the Lord declares to us "I the LORD do not change".(Malachi 3:1) His requirements of excellence is still the same and He will not accept any compromises, our laziness, slack attitude or reasonable excuses. The bible says that God is a Holy God and his name is to be feared among the nations. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes and convict us to recognise His Glory and Awesomeness and compel us to give God the Glory due to His name.
blessings
M.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " (Matthew 16:24-26)
