God, Our Disrespected Father
Scripture Reading — Malachi 1:6
“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.
The Israelites claimed that the one true God was their Father and Master. But many of the people weren’t sincere about that, and their actions showed it. They had asked God if he loved them, but the truth was that they mostly offered lip service. If they truly loved God, they would show him due honor and respect.
God is such a loving Father that it’s hard to imagine a human being ever showing him the honor he deserves. God is such a gracious and kind master that it’s hard to imagine a human able to repay him the respect that is due him. And yet God does not give up his love for us. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Even though Israel was sinning against God, he sent Malachi to try and convince them of his love and to urge them to return to him.
God didn’t give up on Israel, and he doesn’t give up on us either. No matter the disrespect and dishonor we have shown, God still loves us and strives to win us back. The false gods of the world require people to pursue them, but the true God of love pursues us.
Is God first in your life? Do you love him with everything you have and are? Do you tell and show him that you love him?
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us so much that you even died for us. No one else wants us as much as you do. Help me to love you. Amen.
About the author — Scott DeVries
Scott DeVries has served as a church pastor and as a ministry coordinator in the Holland, Michigan, area. He currently works at facilitating connections between the more than twenty ministries and 1,100 churches of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He has a passion for prayer, church organization, and studying the Scriptures in their original languages.
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