My Daily Devotional

Lessons From Malachi "But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant." Malachi 2:8 The Book of Malachi is a little known and read book of the Bible. It is the last Book in the Old Testament, but carries a wonderful message for us. The four chapters of Malachi deals with how the priests, which could also be directed at each of us, does not have the respect and reverence for God that, "they and we", should have. We cheat God by not giving Him our best. We do not give Him our first fruits in our money, our time and our talents. We hold back and even when we give, so often we give begrudgingly, not because we really want to give, but because we are expected to give. The important thing so many miss in giving their best, is that they may have to sacrifice in order to honor and obey God. By sacrifice, I mean that we must be consistent in our behavior, such as our prayer time and our daily devotion time; reading and studying our Bibles. God wants our best, and we should never hold back in giving our best, but most of all giving it freely to Him. The scriptures in Malachi give us a stern warning for the penalty of not honoring God, and holding back, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings". Malachi 2:2 This is pretty plain language, that tells us that if we don't honor, respect and worship God that He is not going to hear us when we pray to Him and call upon Him. The chapter goes on to say that we will be judged harshly for not obeying and honoring God, as there will be a day of judgment which will separate the good from the bad, as each will be judged accordingly to how they have lived their lives. However, for those that do obey and follow His commands, God will throw open the floodgates, and pour out so much blessings that we will not have room enough for it all. Robert William Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven October 28