It looks like I really will get to finish blogging the Old Testament before Easter! I am so excited! This journey that was supposed to take 60 days has taken me ten months instead. While I may have worn out and lost some readers along the way, I have gained a wealth of blessings from studying the Word of God. I look forward to continuing through the New Testament too!
I don't suppose I have really ever studied the book of Malachi indepth. My husband preaches from Chapter 3 at least once a year when we encourage the church to be faithful in tithing. But Malachi has so much more to say! Yesterday I read the four brief chapters of Malachi in the New Century Version. It really made a lot of sense to me. Will you read through it before we get started with our discussion?
The book of Malachi is evidence that God can handle our big questions. So many people are afraid to question God's plan, but our reading today is an example of the dialogue we can have with our heavenly Father. God invites our questioning because it gives Him opportunity to cleanse our lives of sin. The people of Israel were asking hard questions: How has God loved us? Will He accept us? Why do the bad guys always win? Where is the God of justice? How can we return to God? (Sound familiar in our day?)
Did God strike the people down for their opposition? No. But He did answer their questions with more questions: Where is the honor and respect due to Me? Would your governor put up with your poor sacrifices? Why don't you just shut the temple doors and stop your useless sacrifices? Why have you broken faith with me and with one another and with the wives of your youth?
Do you feel far away from God? Do you wonder why He does not seem to respond to your prayers for blessings? Have you taken time to ask God your hard questions? Then have you stilled your heart long enough to hear His reply?
God's major complaints against the people of Israel were (1) they were no longer giving Him their best, (2) the priests had turned from God's way and were causing others to stumble, and (3) the people were not building healthy families because they were marrying idol worshippers and divorcing the wives of their youth. Why did these things make God so upset? Because His whole purpose for choosing them was for their relationship with God to bring glory to His Name. Their actions were in direct contradiction to God's purpose. Everything they did brought dishonor to God.
God's solution to the problem? TITHE! You may say, "That makes no sense to me." Well, sister, to the human mind, bringing tithes and offerings to God does not make financial sense. Why does God ask us to tithe? Because it enables us to prove our commitment to a Holy God, and it allows Him to prove His miraculous provision for us.
Do you question the wisdom in this? Then take it before the throne of God, who waits eagerly to debate the issue with you!
Look at how people in Biblical times fell away from God and they had direct communication with Him. We have direct communication with Him, but in a different sense and we fall away from Him too! Generation after generation God tries to get us to "get" it and we are still making the same mistakes that Biblical time people made. Hmmm, interesting. I always beat myself up for falling from God and yet, everyone does, even the best of the best Christians have those times. We just have to keep picking ourselves up and get back with God! His will is best for our lives! I have to keep telling myself that when things don't feel like they are going the way "I think" they should go. His will is best for me, not my own!!
ReplyDeleteTithe! I have tested that with God and He is faithful. There have been times that I just didn't feel like I had the money to tithe and so I didn't and that seems like all I heard every where I turned, God was speaking to me about tithing. When I am obedient and do my tithing, guess what? I always have the money to get my bills paid too!! Yes, it is our way to show God our committment. Thankfully, we don't have to offer animals as our sign of committment. I don't know if I could do that, that's why I was born in this generation and not back then. :) Maybe we do our tithing, but what about all the other areas to show God our committment to Him. Do we give Him our time to spend alone time with Him, do we give our time serving others, do we show others His love, etc., etc.? There are so many areas of our life that if we give it to Him, He will be faithful to show us His blessings. But we have to be willing to give Him the respect, honor, love, dedication that He so desires and deserves! First of all, we don't deserve blessings from Him because of all that we do to sin against Him and yet He still offers us with blessings. Our next breath is a blessing! I think about all those people who reject God as their Savior and their next breath is a blessing from God because He is giving them more time to accept Him. I am so thankful that He has given me life and all the blessings He has showered me with, why won't I give Him all the control over my life?! Without Him, I wouldn't even be in existence. He so deserves for my life to show Him my gratitude, my honor, my respect, my joy, my dedication. It is all about HIM!!!
Good Job, Dana, with finishing the Old Testment before Easter! It feels good when we accomplish a goal we set for ourselves!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Melissa! God does know what is best for us, and we should figure out that obedience to His will is always going to bring us blessing. I struggle too with giving Him control over everything. He has really been talking to me a lot about this issue lately. Pray for me that I will be ready to listen and learn!
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