July 27, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3.2c-4)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

The question of “acceptable sacrifice” was first asked between two brothers: Cain and Abel. (Genesis 4) Cain was the first born and followed in his father’s footsteps as one who made a living tilling the soil. He would bring first fruits of the harvest as an offering to the Lord. His younger brother, Abel, on the other hand, tended the flocks which belonged to the family. He would bring the “firstlings” of the flock as his offering to the Lord. We know, from the family story that is told, that God favored the offering of Abel and withheld His favor from the offerings of Cain. It may be easier to understand God’s decision on favoring, blessing, the offering of the younger son by remembering what had happened in the Garden. Because Adam and Eve were disobedient to God and broke the command that was given to them, God expelled them from the Garden with clear accountability and expectations. He told Adam that he would have to make his living by working the soil out of which he had been made. Eve would suffer pain in labor bringing children into the world. We may safely assume neither hardship would have been experienced if they remained steadfast to the Word of God. It does not mean that Adam would not have been a farmer nor that Eve would not have birthed children. It speaks to the real possibility that they would not have experienced pain and suffering. How many people would love to have that kind of life? Is it by a frame of mind as in Paul’s “be content“? Would it have been by a true absence and non-existence? We will never know. What we do know is that in Heaven, as the Resurrected and Glorified Christ revealed to John the Elder of Patmos and Ephesus, there will be no tears or sorrow or death or dying. That is something to look forward to! It is a far cry from the fate of those who choose to serve themselves and the one who falsely promises eternal peace and profit by serving him. They will live forever in a death that never dies, in forsakenness that will never be resolved and in a darkness that will never see the light of day.

It is with that in mind, we are able to comprehend the reason why God favored the offering of Abel who brought the firstlings of the flock. It was by the “blood of the Lamb” which was slain by God Himself in the Garden that Adam and Eve received grace. By God’s grace, they were allowed to live and not suffer the death which God said would befall them for eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were covered by the fleece of those sacrificial lambs. Though their sins were as scarlet, they were clothed in wool as white as snow. Abel’s offering represented with thanksgiving the blessing and favor of God. He would not be alive if it were not for God’s grace and his parents’ confession. Mighty ones of God bound in the covenant of life with Jesus the Christ, let us consider our own offerings which we bring before the Lord. Is it by our “works” as we toil from the soil that we have been saved? Of course not! We are saved by grace through the Blood of the Lamb of God who has taken away the burden of our sins upon our belief in Him and Him alone. Let us consider how we present ourselves before God. We should present ourselves with honest confession and the recognition that if it were not for the work of God in Christ we would surely die! As it was, so it must always be.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works which bring others near to Jesus in faith, hope and love. AMEN.