Grace For Your Day December 28

The name Malachi means “messenger” because that is what Malachi was. He was an ordinary man who was chosen to deliver a message to Israel. We do not know much about him. His identity remains a secret but that is okay because it does not matter. All that matters is what he said and here is what Malachi 1:6-10 tells us:

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” says the Lord of armies to you, the priests who despise My name! . . .  And when you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? Or when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not evil? So offer it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you, or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of armies . . . “If only there were one among you who would shut the gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar for nothing! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of armies, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand.”

This is a very sobering passage but it summarizes what Malachi’s message was all about. At the end of the Old Testament, Malachi tells Israel that God does not want half-hearted worship. He does not accept priests who despise His name. He does not accept blind and lame sacrifices. He wants the very best that we have or He does not want anything at all. He would rather shut the Temple Gates what accept that.

This is an important reminder because the topic of church is on everyone’s minds right now British Columbia because there is a debate going on as to whether churches should reopen or not. People are discussing whether the church should defy the governing authorities and, while that is an important issue to discuss, Malachi says that it is not whether the church meets but how it meets that concerns the Lord. Ultimately, it is not whether the churches open up as much as why they do it that He cares about.  

God does not want us to open our churches if we do not mean it. He does not want us to open them back up again if we do it for the wrong motivation. We should not come to church merely out of habit or tradition or rebellion against the government. We should do it to honor Him. We should do it to give Him glory which is what we are going to talk about this Sunday morning at Grace Fellowship Church.

This week, we are going to talk about why we go to church. We are going to talk about why we attend a house of worship. As you probably know, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. There is a good reason and a bad reason to go to church and we want to make sure that we go for the good reason. We want to approach God in the right way and we will talk about what that looks like this Sunday morning in the Book of Malachi. Please join us for this excellent study on our You Tube Channel. It will be a great way to start the New Year!    -  Jeremy Cagle