2 Chronicles 3:1-4:22; Ezekiel 28:1-26; John 10:19-42
Behold, I will rebuke your descendants and spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your solemn feasts; and one will take you away with it. Malachi 2:3, NKJV
Because the Jewish priests were far from the Lord, they did not feel the weight of disgracing the Lord’s name as Malachi did. The prophet warns them that their polluted sacrifices would cause their children to suffer. The priests had brought sickly and maimed sacrifices to God’s altar, but the Lord rejected these. May we remember that the Lord desires fresh Spirit-led worship founded in truth, He doesn’t desire devotionless rituals, and our deadness of heart today will harm the next generation. —W. A. H.
O take this heart of stone away!
Thy sway it doth not, cannot own;
In me no longer let it stay;
O take away this heart of stone!—C. Wesley