Read Malachi 3:6-15.
Man has many suggestions to offer in solving the many
difficulties that face humanity. But man's
ways are not God's ways. I would
like to look at the world's problems from the standpoint of the Christian, as
pictured by the Hebrew people in our text.
It was a time when "the heavens had been shut up." Note:
ƒ An
unchanging God (v6).
His hate for sin us unchanging. His judgment for sin is unchanging. Therefore God will deal with us as He did to
His people in the OT: with love but righteously.
ƒ The
sins of His people.
They were twofold...
w They
had run away from the work God gave them to do (v7). Like Jonah when he ran away from God's
service, so Christians today often run away from God's will to the things of
the world.
w They
had robbed their Master (v7). They had
embezzled their God. They asked,
"Wherein have we robbed God?"
1. In
tithes and offerings.
2. In
obedience.
3. In
love (they were adulterers).
4. In
failing to present our bodies to Him (Rom. 12:1).
5. In
failing to give Him praise and worship.
ƒ The
invitation.
w Return.
What a gracious invitation. God is ready to receive us back. Their answer, however, was "Wherein
shall we return?"
1. They
resented being told their faults.
2. They
were ignorant of the strictness of the Law.
3. They
resolved to go on.
w Bring.
(v10)
Bring ALL. God is
not satisfied with part. In this they
could prove God, seeing heaven opened with bountiful blessing (v10) and
material blessing (v11).
Prove God by returning and bringing!
No comments:
Post a Comment