Daily Devotionals

100% Week 2 Tuesday

You cry out, "Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship?" I'll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. Malachi 2:14

I believe every follower of Christ would say that they want to become more like Christ. Every Christian wants to grow in their faith, and part of growing is becoming more godly. Yesterday we talked about how God keeps His promises to us. He is faithful. This means that part of becoming more like Him is living faithfully as well. This includes all of our relationships, whether single or married. In Scripture, we are called to be people who are true to our word and keep our promises because God keeps His promises to us.

We are in the middle of a study on the book of Malachi, a book of the Bible where God called out the people of Israel for the way they had been living. One of the reasons God called them out was because they had not been faithful, particularly in their marriages. He said to them through Malachi, "You cry out, "Why doesn't the Lord accept my worship?" I'll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows" (verse 14). God was clear. He was not pleased with the way they had been living, and He was not accepting the Israelite's worship because they were not genuine. They were not living faithful lives.

God's words through Malachi that we have studied today remind us that the way we live faithfully to others, especially to our spouses, is to be taken seriously. We are to be the kind of people who live out the promises that we make. So the question today is, are you living faithfully? If not, how can you begin today?

Moving Toward Action

Let's take a few minutes to examine our own lives. Are we faithful and true to our word? Are any of your relationships suffering? If you are married, maybe it is time to meet with a pastor to take steps in resolving conflict or growing as a team. Maybe you have broken a promise or commitment to a friend, and your relationship has been broken. It is time to apologize and take steps in repairing that relationship. Let's commit to growing and becoming people who live faithfully in all of our relationships.

Going Deeper

Malachi 2:10-17 (NLT)

Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors?

Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. May the Lord cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”