12 “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ 13 You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?” says the Lord.” (Malachi 1:12–13, NKJV)
When will man learn that acceptable worship of God is not defined and determined by what man chooses to offer God, but by what God says will be please Him? Ancient Israel corrupted the table of the Lord by failing to carefully offer Him sacrifices according to His law. They brought defective offerings before Him, and sneered with contempt at the commanded sacrifices (Deuteronomy 15:21). God heard their complaints, and rejected their contemptible, faithless offerings. Surely, we must learn that our worship will only please God when it is “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God rejects defective worship today, even as He did then. God will not accept attempts to worship Him that fail to conform to the worship taught and approved in the new covenant of Christ. True worship does not become “a weariness” and “contemptible” to true worshipers (John 4:23). Let us approach God with reverential honor, and never grow weary of offering Him the worship He commands – and is due (Malachi 1:6).
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