Giving God our best

Malachi 1:6-9 (ESV)
⁶ “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
⁷ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’
⁸ When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.
⁹ And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts.

As we reflect on the above words of the prophet Malachi, they may seem quite quaint and largely inapplicable to our modern day worship. It is true we no longer sacrifice animals at altars but has the real purpose of worship really changed over the years? Could Malachi’s charge against the priests for accepting injured, diseased, or blind animals for sacrifice contrary to God’s command (Deuteronomy 15:21) resonate with us today?

Although the days of the Levitical priesthood have past, each of us has been charged with being priests unto God (I Peter 2:9). So how do we deal with our offerings unto Him? We tend to think of offerings consisting mainly of monetary gifts and tithes, but the prophet Micah makes clear of what the Lord requires of each of us, “… To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. “(Micah 6:8).

Would it be of value for us to reflect on the account of David wanting to purchase Ornan’s field to build an altar? Ornan said to him. “Take it, your majesty. Do whatever you think right. I’ll give it to you free!” David’s reply is instructive, “No, I insist on buying it at full price. I won’t take what is yours for the Lord and offer burnt offerings that have cost me nothing! “(I Chronicles 24:18-24) the priests of Malachi’s day had lost sight of that God measures the value of the offering by its worth to the offerer.

If our offering doesn’t cost us anything in terms of time, service of money, how does He measure the worth of our gift? While on-lookers may be impressed by our offerings, God knows their true value and the intent of our hearts. It would seem that when we give God only our leftover time, money, and energy, we repeat the same sin as those Old Testament worshippers who didn’t want to bring anything of real value to God. Does our offering of “leftovers” reflect our true attitude and intentions towards Him?

I suspect that many of us respond much as the people of Malachi’s day responded - giving God less than our best. Too often we take Him for granted and offer our leftovers instead of anything of real personal value. Doesn’t God deserve our very best offerings rather than our leftovers? If we only give less than our best, can we expect Him to approve of our efforts?