“And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But now entreat God’s favor,
That He may be gracious to us.
While this is being done by your hands,
Will He accept you favorably?”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,
So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?
I have no pleasure in you,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.
For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But you profane it,
In that you say,
‘The table of the Lord is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
You also say,
‘Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the Lord.
“But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.”
Malachi 1:8-14
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:15
The Lord was filled with wrath at the people, priests included, in the first set of scriptures above. Though they came to the temple to worship God as though they had clean hearts and clean lives, their hearts and lives were filled with sin. Their worship of God and sacrifices to Him were not in spirit and truth (John 4:24). In modern day language, we would say, “they were playing church.” They were practicing religious traditions, but they did not live to love, honor, fear, revere, praise, worship, serve, adore, and glorify God! Their sacrifice of animals was a reflection of their hearts and lives. They did not sacrifice the beautiful animals. They sacrificed the worst of them. They did not give the Lord the best of anything, right down to the animals they sacrificed. But still, they tried to keep up appearances and perform their religious duties. I encourage you to read the book of Malachi in its entirety to learn more.
In the meantime, there is a message in their sacrifice for all of us, isn’t there? In the second set of scriptures above, the Lord makes abundantly clear that we who have been forgiven and promised everlasting life through repentance and believing in Jesus Christ as Lord who died on the cross to pay our sin penalty and was raised from the dead are to OFFER OUR LIVES as a LIVING SACRIFICE to God.
We are to give our lives to Christ who gave His life for us. And we are NOT to hold back the best and give the Lord little pieces of our lives. We are NOT to give the Lord the remains of our lives after we’ve done all our self-centered living to please ourselves. We are to SACRIFICE OUR LIVES IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
Our WHOLE LIVES are to be COMMITTED TO CHRIST. Our WHOLE LIVES are to be DEDICATED TO GOD AND HIS WILL AND WAYS. Our ENTIRE SELVES once we enter into a forever relationship with God through Christ BELONG TO CHRIST. We are NOT to PLAY RELIGION and give God a few hours on Sunday for church, an hour on Wednesdays for Bible study, a half hour of devotions in the morning, a prayer here and there when we need or want something, righteous living when we feel like it.
OUR WHOLE LIVES ALL THE TIME BELONG TO JESUS, AND WE WE ARE TO LIVE UTTERLY AND WHOLLY FOR HIM, OUR LIVES A LIVING SACRIFICE, NO LONGER LIVING TO PLEASE OURSELVES, BUT LIVING TO LOVE AND GLORIFY GOD FOREVER!
How beautiful is your sacrifice, friend? Are you living wholly and solely to love and glorify and worship and adore God almighty through Christ forevermore?