Malachi 1:6 (NIV) “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 1:14 (NLT) Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord.
The book of Malachi is one of my favorite texts to study. Written nearly 400 years before the life of Christ, Malachi is full of warnings to the people of that time period; yet those warnings are just as applicable today. I would encourage you to read the entire short book using your favorite translation (NIV, NLT, NKJV, NET or similar).
In the first chapter of Malachi, the priests had been caught bringing God their leftovers. Are we any different from the priests of Malachi’s day? I find the temptation today for us is very much the same. This is not just a matter of the giving God our financial leftovers. It is also a matter of the giving of our leftover time, effort, and energy. Our daily schedule seems take priority while our devotional life is an afterthought. When our day runs out of time, as it often does, we convince ourselves we will read an extra verse or two “tomorrow”. Dear Readers, it may take time and effort to build a consistent devotional life (i.e., Bible study, thought, and prayer) with our Heavenly Father, but isn’t that what he deserves from us? And folks, it isn’t so much about setting a schedule for a precise time each day, but it is that you TAKE time—MAKE time—each day. Anything less does not give our Heavenly Father the full honor and respect due to Him. God deserves our best, not our leftovers.
Gracious Heavenly Father,
Forgive us for giving you our leftovers. Create in us the resolve to seek you daily. May you be our priority in all that is accomplished each day.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The devotional God Deserves More than Leftovers appeared first on Write From My Heart at
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Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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