"Flip-Flop" Religion...

I was doing my devotions out of Malachi 1 from "God's Word for Today" and it had a great thought which I want to expand on...

It says in Malachi 1:6-8 - " 'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Thy name?' [7] "You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled Thee?' In that you say, 'The table of the Lord is to be despised.' [8] "But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?" says the Lord of hosts.

Sadly, what is happening is that God is disturbed at the people who give Him only what they want to...not what they should. Instead of presenting the very best for a sacrifice as was required of them, they would offer a crippled or blind animal to God. Surely they supposed, they were going to die anyhow, and God wouldn't want us to fall short, they must have reasoned. But they all to quickly forgot that God is a jealous God! He is not one to overlook His requests of us just because it might be too hard or trying for us. No! God must come first, and we show Him that He is first by the sacrifices we make for Him on a daily basis.

While I know that I am not sacrificing a lamb to God today, my life is a "living sacrifice." Romans 12:1 - I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Therefore, it is considered "reasonable" for God to require the best for us...not just what we have left over once we have worn ourselves out. That is where the "flip-flop" idea comes in. We intend to give our best, but when the actual moment of requirement comes, we hold out on God and give Him what we can, because our best would hurt too much. Aren't you thankful that God didn't do that to us? Aren't you thankful that Jesus didn't do that to us? I sure am! They gave their best! They gave their all!

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One more thought...

I heard this recently from a missionary, Rev. Denny Seler, missionary to Jamaica. He was speaking to our Church from Mark 12:13-17. In it Jesus is being questioned about paying taxes, and whether they should do it or not. Jesus picks up a coin and asks, "Who's image is on the coin?" The obvious answer is Caesar, to which Jesus replies, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

The point to be made here is in the answer to this question..."Whose image are you made in?" Come on, you know... Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." You and I are made in HIS image! So then, as LIVING SACRIFICES, what should we give to God? Our best...not just what we can "afford." We were made in His image, for His pleasure.

So, when God requires something of us, should we hold out on Him? Should we commit and then abandone our commitment? No! We must be faithful and stay faithful. DON'T FLIP-FLOP! There is enough of that today in the Church. People saying, I'll be there, and then you never see them. People who make a commitment to serve the Lord and the Body, and then they never come around again. People who make the decision to be committed to God when they are in trouble, but then abandon ship when the going gets good. People who can never get up to go to Church, but will not miss the early morning men's breakfast. People who can't seem to find the time to do service for others, but when there is a concert they want to go to an hour away, they won't miss it. People who...you get the point.

All in all... Christian, give your best, and don't flip-flop on God. He does not simply overlook it as we might think, because there is no immediate consequence. Malachi 1 is an example of how it makes God feel.

BTW - Don't you love the Red Sox too?