Wednesday Reading: Malachi 1:10
Key Verse: Malachi 1:10
10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Devotion:
Back in the time of David the king porters would be appointed to stand at the gates of the temple to check on the sacrifices that were brought in. God insisted on a good sacrifice being offered and not just any old rubbish but man was the one who would grow weary of the sacrifices and start to diminish their meaning. Today I want each of us to remember the importance of our own sacrifices to God. No longer are we required to bring in the best animal sacrifice that we have because of what Christ has already done for us in that respect. But that should never put away our own sacrifices that we should still be making.
I am not talking about the physical act of sacrificing animals but rather of the things that we are willing to give back to God. He is the one who has given us everything in the beginning so why should we even try to withhold anything back from Him. In the beginning He would ensure that the people willing to bring in a sacrifice would have some way of doing exactly that but what He demanded was the best from people. Cain found that out the hard way when he thought that he could bring in what he considered to be the best rather than what God considers to be the best.
Each of us is given so many blessing from God and it is those special blessings that we need to bring back to Him. He gives us the best so that we can give Him the best – anything else would be us withholding our best from Him. Why does it sound so simple and yet seem so difficult? The main reason for that is that most people are not willing to give their all to Christ. He has already given us His all by laying down His own life on the cross – how can we consider withholding anything back from Him? It is little wonder then that prophets were inspired to write down such words so that we would be reminded just how important our lives are to Christ. He has paid it all for us now we must show Him due respect and love...
Points to Ponder:
How do you show your love to others?
Have you showed God your love lately?
