Saturday
This message comes to Malachi about a 100 years after the temple has been rebuilt and the exiles have returned. But the people were losing their focus and turning away from God. Malachi’s message is a plea for God’s people to return to God.
Malachi has a strong word for those who bring less than perfect offerings to God, to the priests who lead the people down the wrong path and to the people who have not learned to live by the law. To the arrogant who think that God will not punish them and the wicked who challenge God’s authority.
Let’s face it, God deserves our very best. He is worthy of our respect, our faithfulness, our obedience, our love and adoration, but it seems like all He ever gets from us is pride and greed and a self-centered heart. We should be coming before God in humility and generosity, we should be loyal and faithful to Him. All that we have, comes from God.
Malachi concludes with the announcement of the “Day of the Lord.” A day of judgment when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be punished and where the faithful will be filled with joy. He goes on to tell us God will send a prophet like Elijah (John the Baptist) to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah.
Blessings for the Day