Serving God

Part of being a Christian means we need to serve God. And throughout Malachi, God has stated his disappointment in people basically wanting God to serve them not the other way around. He has stated he was weary and that people have asked for proof of his love instead of the other way around: us proving our love to him. How could we say we believe in God, yet not serve him the way we should be?

Malachi chapter three, verse 13 and 14 says "you have said terrible things about me says the Lord. But you say What do you mean? How have we spoken against you? You have said 'What's the use of serving God. What can be gained by obeying his command or by trying to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry for our sins." Too often we wonder why serve God? We want to get something come out of our service to God. We don't understand that serving our own selfish needs we are saying the same things.

We need to look at our lives and wonder how are we serving God and how can we serve him better? We are saved only through God's grace. The other night Todd mentioned trying to keep an eye on his speed while driving because he said what kind of example would he be by not obeying the speed limit laws. In a way wanting to be an example of good driving also shows he wants to be a good example of serving God. When we break laws even small ones, we sin against God. Small things mean a lot in the long run even if they don't seem like it.

The way we act to others, do we gossip, we do we glance at naughty images, do we swear from time to time and that includes taking the Lord's name in vain like: God da** it. Do we try to assume what goes on in a person's head and spread rumors about one another, do we indulge in things a Christian should refrain from?

Wearied Lord

That is an interesting title I know. "Wearied Lord." does the Lord get weary? Why would he get weary if he does? Malachi tells us why the Lord gets wearied. We weary him with our actions and our words. He does get tired of how people can twist the Word to fit their style and their own selfish desires.

Malachi 2:17 is where we are told You have wearied him by asking "Where is the God of Justice?" We always ask where is God's justice when something bad happens in our lives we like to turn the truth around to meet our needs instead of turning ourselves around to meets God's needs. We often ask where is God when bad things occur. How many people asked where was God when the tragedy of September 11th happened? We don't see that God's justice is everywhere within the bad things. We don't put all our faith in him.


Earlier in the chapter in verse 10 in Malachi God says Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? We neglect the fact that we are God's children. That we serve GOD not the other way around. God does not serve us, yet we always try to make it that way. When we pray, we ask for things that we want. When someone needs our help we tend to think about what WE can get out of it instead of thinking we can show the glory of God through love for others. When we do things like this we make God weary of how we continue to act this way and treat people this way.

We need to stop trying to make God serve us and serve God. We need to think about how we can glorify GOd through our actions and not try to twist the Word of God around to fit our needs and desires. We need to change to fit God's needs.

Too Hard??

The book of Malachi is full of God speaking to Malachi the prophet. Much of which deals with the love of God and the actions of his people. We looked at chapter 1 verse 2 where we saw that God loves us deeply yet we still wonder. Farther in the chapter God talks more of respect and honor.

"A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. I am your father and your master, but where are the honor and respect i deserve. You have despised my name!" Verse 6 God's saying we fail him because we don't honor and respect him as we should. We don't follow the Bible, we judge others, we lie (little fibs count), some cheat. We fall very short of honoring God the way we should. But he still loves us and still sent Jesus to die for us. Who needs proof of how deep his love is? It's right there.

The chapter goes on to say in verse 13 "You say 'It's too hard to serve the Lord," We always think it is too hard to serve God because it seems like a bunch of rules, or hardships and "no fun" as some people would say. No one said being a Christian will be the easiest thing to do. In fact it is hard, yet we still serve God and need to honor him in all we do. We need to give praise through the good times and the bad, we need to repent (and be sincere in it), we need to fight temptations, pray, go to church and fellowship, read our Bibles. It is hard, but it's worth it.

Some people say it's hard keeping God the center of your life, with everything else going on. In fact keeping God the center is one of the easiest things to do. Before eating say a prayer of thanksgiving. Instead of watching an hour of reruns get into the word and read what he has said, pray. Talk about him don't just ask Jesus in and then leave him in the corner. Let the world see that Jesus Christ is living in you.

God's Love

We are going to venture into the book of Malachi. It is the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi like many of the other books are conversations he had with God. There are parts of God speaking and then Malachi speaking. The book opens very powerfully and sets the stage for what it will fully be about.

"I have loved you deeply," says the Lord. But you retort, "Really? How have you loved me?" That is what verse two says. How often do we ask God how have you loved me? To often we want God to prove his love to us instead of us proving our love to him. God says he loves us and sends his son to die for us and yet we still ask for proof! We still want to know how he has loved us. We still want proof of his love. When something bad goes on in our lives we assume God doesn't love us or worse doesn't exist. God constantly says I love you deeply. Yet we want proof.

We should be the ones working to prove our love to God. The way we treat others, the way we treat ourselves, how we act and react. Just many things go into showing how we love the Lord our God. How can we honestly say we love God, yet won't help someone in need? Or say "we can't bring drug addicts into our church." Isn't the point to show God's love through our actions? How can we say we love God yet judge those around us, yet sometimes we have the gull to ask God how do you love me.

I understand asking WHY. I admit I am unworthy of his love, but he still loves me. Instead of trying to find proof of God's love, why not try proving YOUR love.