6 “A son honors his father, and a slave 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 priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
7 “By offering 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 offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame 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 plead with 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 where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.
12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty.
“When you bring injured, lame 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. MALACHI 1:6-14
I don't think I have to say too much for believers to get the point that is being made here in these verses. God is definitely not satisfied with sloppy seconds, leftovers. He wants our very best. And honestly, it isn't too much to ask considering who He is and what He has done for us. If God looked into the heart motives behind our worship (the church as a whole), would He say, "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, and I will accept no offering from your hands?" Plain English might word it a it differently. Maybe something like, "Why don't you just shut the church doors instead of pretending to worship...I don't like hypocritical worship." Oh my...that's something to think about, isn't it? I'm reminded also of the verse in Amos 5:23 where it says, "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps !" Is it enough to sing a song of worship or play to God when our lives aren't representing that we are His children? Are we mistreating our fellow man? Are we giving grudgingly? Is there some idol in our lives that takes precedence over God? Do we think that God will bless us for our lame efforts at worship? I'm just thinking out loud...not pointing any fingers. I myself have been guilty of going through the motions. God has a way of bringing it to your attention when He isn't pleased. It's why I like to take time to examine myself on occasion. I don't want my worship to be useless. And I never want to give God less than He deserves...well, I probably fail there because, as a human, I could never truly give all that He deserves. But I can give the best I have to offer....
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