OFFER OUR SACRIFICES TO GOD BY David Chen.
Mal.3:8-10 : “Will a man rob God ? Yet you rob me. But you asked “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse, the whole nation of you because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
Each one of us would have received the blessing and grace of God some time during our life. Therefore, all of us need to do something for him in return, to thank him and to give all the glory back to him. But what can we human beings offer back to him? Even if we could offer the whole world back to him, it still would not be possibly enough, for he created everything and everything belongs to him.
In the book of Malachi, the prophet encouraged the Israelites to give tithe and offerings in return for the favour that the Lord has given him. Today, likewise, we have to do the same thing, give tithe and offerings. Give tithe and offerings in everything we possess of-time, money, our gifts from God and many more. In the Old Testament time, people offered sacrifices to ask God for His forgiveness and also to give thanks to God. Before one offers the sacrifice one must prepare oneself before the Lord, and then humbly offer the animals to God.
Nowadays, we use prayers as a form of sacrifice to commune with God. How can we then offer our prayers, so that they will be heard by our Lord Jesus? First of all, we have to prepare ourselves before we prayer. After a busy day of work, school and playing we have to still our hearts down before the Lord so that we say to him can be full of praises instead of murmuring. God favours prayers of the righteous ones and their prayers are effective (Jas 5:16). A righteous man is one with a clean, honest and God-fearing heart. This should be in our minds when we offer our sacrifices to him.
If we prayed according to his will, He promised us that He would open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessings onto us. But as we all know that praying to him is our duty, if we don’t pray, we would be like the Israelites at that time, robbing the Lord from the House of God. How GREAT our sin would be? But I believe, as long as we offer our best to him, the promise will never change. He will bless each individual one of us accordingly in His right time.
Reflection:
1. If we have given our best to God, but it seemed that He is neglecting our prayers, what can we do?