Malachi 1:6-7 A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is My Honor? and if I be a Master, where is My Fear? says the Lord of Hosts unto you, O Priests, who despise My Name, and You say, Wherein have we despised Your Name? You offer polluted bread upon My Altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted You? In that you say, the Table of the Lord is contemptible.
God has never accepted a less-than-perfect sacrifice. From Genesis to Revelation, we read of God's Perfect Redemption Plan. It is the Will of God that every person come to a place of faith and be redeemed. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
In the Prophetic Word of the Lord to Malachi, God clearly demonstrates His dissatisfaction with His people. Even the Priests were despising His Name by bringing less than acceptable sacrifices to the Altar. We don't have to read very far in Genesis to know that a less-than-perfect sacrifice is not acceptable to God. He has always demanded the best of His people.
Much of the Church today is doing the exact same thing, and we wonder why the Presence of God is not felt. We long to hear the Voice of the Lord, but He remains silent. We pray for Him to heal our land, and it only seems to get worse. We beg Him to strike down our enemies, but they increase in number every day. Why is God responding to His people in this manner?
Once again, we have broken His First Commandment. We have taken our eyes off the Perfect Sacrifice and are worshiping other things. God will not accept this. He never has, and He never will. His Word spells it out very clearly. The Sacrifice of His Perfect Son, Jesus Christ, is the only acceptable Sacrifice, and we are to worship Him in thought, word, and act. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)
Every born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a member of God's Holy Priesthood. In Old Testament times, the Priests examined and offered the Sacrifices. As members of the Holy Priesthood today, we have the same responsibility. We are a Priest and our bodies are the Temple of God. Therefore, we are responsible for examining ourselves to assure we are worshiping the only Sacrifice acceptable to God. When we worship and place our faith in anything else, we are not honoring our Heavenly Father. That is called SIN!
When we trust in money, power, prestige, position, people, government, or anything else, we are despising His Name and polluting His Altar. God's Plan for us is good. He wants us to prosper and be successful. BUT, He expects us to trust Him for everything. He is able to provide all that we need for health and happiness. All we have to do is trust Him and place our faith in the Perfect Sacrifice, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus told us this Himself when He said, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) This simple Scripture is our guideline for living a life acceptable to God, which should be our goal in life, not out of fear of the consequences, but out of love for our Heavenly Father who gave us life and loves us so much He gave us His Only Begotten Son. What more could we ask for?
Faith in the Perfect Sacrifice will…......turn the tide
Praising Him! Doreen
www.bettsministries.org
