Blind Animals

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Scripture:

Malachi 1:7 By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?” By thinking that the LORD’S table may be despised.  8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? Try presenting that to your governor; will he be pleased with you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 1:10 Oh, that someone among you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands.

Observation:

The priests had deluded themselves into believing that they could offer shoddy sacrifices and worship to God. Probably in an effort to save money (or spend it on other things) they brought God the second-hand offerings. There were blind animals, along with those who were lame and sick.

What was brought before God would never have been acceptable to a government official, and yet, somehow they thought it was okay. It was not okay and finally in verse ten we are told that it would be better to offer no sacrifice at all rather than what they were doing.  God would not accept this from them. Shoddy worship was not worship. Blind animals were no sacrifice.

Application:

This is a powerful indictment on God’s people for it revealed their hearts. Our worship of God, the ways in which we sacrifice our lives before the LORD will be a reflection of our life in God. Do we love God above all else and are we willing to give God our very best?

Blind animals may not just be a physical offering, but may also be a reflection of our attitude. What is the defining characteristic of our giving to God? Could it be expedience or neglect?

Too many things have crowded out our worship of God these days. Maybe a contemporary example would be that we give sports our very best, and God gets the left-overs. We need to evaluate whether we are giving God our blind animals and saving the best for ourselves. This includes our spiritual lives on a daily basis, and our worship in God's house. God doesn’t want our second best!

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to give you my very best today and every day.  Amen.


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