6 ¶A
son honoureth his father, and a servant his
master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be
a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.
And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye
offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted
thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8 And
if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not
evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it
not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or
accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
9 And
now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been
by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord
of hosts.
10 Who
is there even among you that would shut the
doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in
you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I
accept an offering at your hand.
(Malachi 1:6-10)
This block of verses
describes a number of ways the priests of Malachi’s day were polluting their
service at the temple.
Their contempt for the
service they did was the main problem because it led to them giving low quality
offerings instead of their best.
Malachi challenged them on whether they thought low quality gifts to a
human ruler would receive commendation, and it should have been obvious that if
the governor were insulted, God certainly would be.
These comparisons are still
useful today. Do we have contempt
for our callings or priesthood service?
If we were to go to our temporal jobs where we make a living and have a
bad attitude there, can we imagine our employers being pleased? Is God any different? We may think He will not mind, but His
greatness and mercy is worthy of our finest and purest devotions.
Malachi reminds the priests
that they are the ones who are supposed to intercede for the people and he asks
whether God will listen to their prayers if they have polluted their
service. Good question..
Malachi also asks the
priests who among them would be so devoted to the service of God that they
would “shut the doors” of the temple or “kindle fire” on the altar for nothing
(not receiving any part of the offering).
If they would do it even if they didn’t partake in the offerings, then
their hearts would be where they should be and their service would be
devoted.
Today our service is without charge, but we still need to
be sure that the gift of our service is done with a willing heart, otherwise it
is as polluted as Malachi spoke of.
Also, there is the principle
Mormon shared in Moroni 7:
6 For
behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he
offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it
profiteth him nothing.
7 For
behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
8 For
behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it
is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is
counted evil before God. (Moroni 7:6-8)
I noticed about a month or
two ago that my service was starting to get a little robotic, just going
through the motions. I’m trying to
better at that, to think of it as an offering and to go into it
whole-heartedly, rather than with apathy.
It’s taking some effort, I can tell you. But I try because I anticipate that great spiritual
blessings will come from it, and I want those blessings, particularly greater
closeness to God.
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