Malachi 1:6-8 – “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?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 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.

THEME OF THE DAY: DON’T GIVE HIM LEFTOVERS. I happen to love leftovers. When my wife makes soup, which is a lot, I am good with eating it two or three days in a row. I think spaghetti is better the second and third time around. I know some people are “one and done” but using food leftovers is a good thing. It is frugal and displays wise stewardship of the blessings God gives us. Yes, leftovers are a good thing when it comes to food. Not when it comes to seeking and obeying the Lord.

In today’s scripture, the Lord is speaking through the prophet Malachi. He brings forth a heart-breaking and heart-searching indictment upon Israel’s priests, but it applies to all of God’s people including us. We may paraphrase what the Lord is saying like this, “Why do you neglect me? What do you give human relationships more attention than the one you have with me? When it comes to you obeying and seeking me, why do I get the leftovers or second best of yourself and your time?”

Perhaps the key lesson in today’s scripture is what the Lord calls the sacrifices His priests offered to Him. He calls them “evil”. And why? They were second best. They were not of the highest quality. They were not costly. Now let’s take that into the realms of our lives. The Apostle Paul tells us our responsibility to the Lord is to be an acceptable sacrifice to Him – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

God deserves our best; the best of our effort in obeying Him; the best of our time in seeking Him; the best of our affections in loving Him. Simply put, our Lord is so wonderful that He should get of us the highest quality when we offer ourselves to Him as “living sacrifices”. And for us to be that, we must do some soul-searching, even perhaps some confession and a resolve to make some changes in our lives. So let’s do that together . . .

Is there anyone in our lives (human relationships) and anything (vocations, hobbies, recreations, entertainment, pursuits) that gets better effort, more of our free time, greater attention, and deeper affection than our relationship with Jesus Christ? If so, we have a significant spiritual problem. Now let me qualify something here. This is not a call to neglect our families, friends, jobs, or even the pursuit of things to enjoy in life. But here is the bottom line. Nothing or no one is to take higher place in our lives than the Lord Jesus. Should we measure our lives and see the things of the world hold us tighter in our minds, hearts and wills than our Savior, then we are giving Him “leftovers” of ourselves and times. We are guilty of offering Him blemished sacrifices. Just like the priests did in today’s scripture. And remember what the Lord calls them – evil.

Friends, Jesus is too special and wonderful to get leftovers from us. Leftovers are good when it comes to food, but it is a great sin when given to the Lord. It sends a loud message to Him; a message that breaks the heart of our God who gave us His best so that we might give Him our best in a loving relationship with one another.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I give more time to the world than Your Word”

QUOTE: “The quality of time we give to the Word reveals the quality of love for Jesus Christ.”