What About Malachi?

Some have asked me my thoughts on Malachi, the last book in the old testament that I assigned as a reading last Sunday. Last Sunday I said that when I finished reading this short book in the old testament that it spoke volumes to me. Let me give you the readers digest version of some of my thoughts.

Malachi means, "My Messenger" Like all the prophets who had a word from God, Malachi is a book that is reaching out to God's people. The emphasis of the book of Malachi is on the "attitude" of those who come to worship God. God is asking, "Where is your heart when you come into my temple to worship me?"

In the book of Leviticus one learns about "how" to worship God, in Malachi the focus is on the "heart" of those who come to worship God.  The people Malachi was trying to reach had become apathetic about their worship.  This is made profound in Malachi 1:2. God said to the people, "I have loved you." The response of the people was, "In what ways have you loved us?"

Imagine a father talking with his teenage son who he raised with much love, care and patience and his teenage son starts rebelling and not following the rules of the household. So dad decides to have a heart to heart talk with his son who he sees going down a dangerous, disastrous path. And the dad says to his son, "Son I love you, and have loved you since you were born," and the son responds by saying, "How have you loved me?"

When we decide to come to church to worship, there has to be reflection and heart preparation for the real reason we are taking the time to come to "WORSHIP!" I believe there are times when we become like the people of Malachi's day. We do not come to worship with a proper heart. We have become so distracted by the things of this life that we cannot focus on God. We are too busy, too tired, too angry, and really, "Does God really care if I spend time with him or not?" We are no different than the people of Malachi's time. They were all caught up in things of this life also. It is so easy to fall into that trap.

We come together to praise God and stand before Him asking for mercy, and thanking Him for all the good we do have in our life. We come before the King of all creation. Worship should be the most important time of your week. A time when we get to gather before the God of the universe and reach out to Him, thank Him, connect with Him.

See you Sunday! Love, pastor kent