Friday, March 21, 2014

Israel Perverts the Lord's Sacrifice

Today I read Malachi 1 and the Lord is not pleased with Israel at all.  In this chapter He lists out their perversions and how they are sacrificing impure animals to Him on the altar and giving Him moldy bread in their offerings.  What a slap in the face!  I can't believe anyone would think that is ok.  I can't even think of a good analogy to express how terrible that is.  It reminds me of poor Nephi and all the talks he had to have with his older brothers and how they kept screwing up anyway.  The Israelites are a very real type and shadow of the rest of the world.  People are always repenting and doing better for a little while, then letting certain things slip and then finally stopping any pretense of doing what is right all together, then repenting when they need the Lord's help and it starts all over again.  President Ezra Taft Benson called it the pride cycle.  It is really easy to pick on the Israelites and marvel at their lack of faithfulness, but lets be honest with ourselves, is our society any better?

I recently read a poll that someone did, I'm not sure of how many people, that asked people if they thought Jesus would be pleased with modern day Christianity.  Over 80% of the people polled said
"no" He would not be pleased.  And yet, we do nothing about it.  Some search for the truth.  Some wonder and ask questions that most religions can't answer.  But the vast majority don't seem to care.  They continue on in their hedonistic lifestyle and search for the next thrill.  The next shiny object to capture their attention.  They have no purpose in life beyond getting through the next day.  And what is worse is that most of them sacrifice the most precious thing in their lives, their families, for a mess of pottage.  It makes me sad and I have purposefully chosen a career where I can keep my family first and most important in my life.  Because they are the reason I go to work, to care for them and make sure they have enough for their needs and some wants.  They are the most important thing in my life and always will be.  Until tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment