“When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should he show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. [Malachi 1:8-9 (NLT)]
In Leviticus, Moses laid out God’s law regarding sacrifices—only a perfect animal was acceptable. One thousand years later, in the time of Malachi, the priests allowed people to offer blind, crippled, diseased and even stolen animals as offerings. The Israelites were offering God the animals that were worthless or someone else’s animal entirely. Since, by definition, a sacrifice requires the giving up of something of great value to us, those certainly didn’t qualify as sacrifices. The Israelites, like a dishonest salesperson who substitutes an inferior product for a good one, were actually cheating God.
Abraham understood what it meant to give something valuable to God. When God demanded that he give his only son, the beloved Isaac, as a sacrifice, he obeyed. Fortunately for Isaac, when it was clear that Abraham loved God more than his precious child, God stopped him from completing the sacrifice. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, also understood what it was to give something irreplaceable to God. Unable to have a child, the anguished woman promised the Lord that, if he should bless her with a son, she would give him back to God. Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son called Samuel. When he was three years old, she brought him to Eli the priest and dedicated him to the Lord. Although Samuel later became a prophet and one of the greatest of Israel’s judges, it had to break Hannah’s heart to leave her young son in Eli’s care. Both Abraham and Hannah gave God their most cherished possessions: their sons. Moreover, God gave us His best when He sacrificed His only son for us.
What we offer God reflects our attitude toward him. Do we give Him our best or less? Does He get our gifts first or does He just get our leftovers—whatever remains after we’ve done whatever else we wanted to do? Our time, energy, talent, money and possessions—they all belong to God. He’s just allowing us to use His gifts for a short time while we’re here on earth. He deserves the best we have to offer; after all, it’s His anyway!
In the many television tributes to the recently deceased actor Gene Wilder, a scene from the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory frequently has been aired. In it, Willy tells Charlie not to forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted. When the boy asks what that was, Wonka replies, “He lived happily ever after!”
I often find myself lost in the Bible, fascinated by this amazing book of history, poetry, passion, and wisdom. Comparing translations and reading commentaries helps me understand the context and meaning of verses. Knowing something about the specific church to whom Paul was writing, for example, allows me to better understand his directions, many of which seem peculiar in today’s world where churches don’t argue about circumcision and food isn’t offered to idols. For example, Paul wasn’t playing fashion police when giving instructions about hair length and head coverings to the church in Corinth. Although Greek women worshipped without head coverings, Jewish women had always covered their heads in worship—an uncovered head for them was a sign of loose morals. Moreover, in Corinth (the city with Aphrodite’s temple and its 1000 prostitutes) both long hair on men and short hair on women were signs of prostitution. Paul was trying to unify both Jewish and Gentile believers and prevent anyone’s appearance from interfering with their ability to be a witness for Christ. Bible study also makes old familiar verses take on deeper meaning. David’s sorrowful words of repentance in Psalm 51 are even more poignant when we know they refer to his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. Bible study, however, is far more than an intellectual exercise; it enables us to know God as He revealed himself in Scripture and then to weave His word into our daily lives.
The elderly Abraham and Sarah laughed at the thought of the two of them making a child and the old Jewish priest Zechariah doubted his barren wife could conceive. Yet, a thirteen-year old virgin believed that she would miraculously bear a son and a pagan Roman officer believed Jesus could heal his servant with just a word.
Devotions of the Heart 