Tag: God’s Commands

Rekindling Our Heart for Worship

In Malachi 1, the people of Israel express their frustration and weariness with serving the Lord, implying that it’s too hard to follow His commands. They turned their noses up at the sacrifices they were asked to make, offering blemished animals and half-hearted service. What was intended to be an act of devotion had become a begrudging task, and their worship reflected a spirit of apathy. They essentially complained that serving God was a burden rather than a privilege, a sign that their hearts had wandered far from Him.

The people of Malachi’s day had returned from exile, and though they had rebuilt the temple, their spiritual fervor had waned. The passion and hope that accompanied their return had cooled into a mechanical routine, one that lacked true devotion. The priests, meant to lead the people in reverent worship, were themselves dishonoring God by accepting unacceptable sacrifices. God, through Malachi, rebukes them, reminding them that He is a great King and deserves honor and reverence, not half-hearted offerings.

This same attitude can be found today. We may not bring animals to the altar, but we are often guilty of a similar complacency. How many times do we approach our faith with a “good enough” attitude? How often do we view serving the Lord as something burdensome, offering only what we feel we can spare—our leftover time, attention, or energy? The people of Malachi’s time lost sight of the greatness of God, and we, too, can be guilty of treating our relationship with Him as a mere obligation rather than an act of love and devotion.

There’s also the temptation to focus on how hard it can feel to follow God’s commands. In our modern lives, full of distractions and competing priorities, we can easily slip into thinking that obeying the Lord requires too much. Maybe we’re busy with work, overwhelmed with family responsibilities, or simply exhausted by the pace of life, and suddenly, reading Scripture, praying, or being involved in our church seems like just one more thing to add to the list. But this mindset misses the point entirely. God’s commands, like those given to Israel, are meant to draw us closer to Him, to foster life and spiritual flourishing, not to burden us. When we approach them as if they’re too hard or not worth our full attention, we dishonor God, just as Israel did.

Instead of turning our noses up at what God asks of us, we’re called to reframe our perspective. Service to the Lord is not about checking boxes or fulfilling obligations. It’s a response to the immense love and grace He has shown us. When we shift our mindset from “How much do I have to do?” to “How can I give my best to God?” our faith moves from a place of drudgery to a place of joy. Our service becomes a privilege, and our hearts realign with the worship and honor that God deserves.

In every era, from Malachi’s day to today, God calls His people to honor Him not with bare minimum effort but with hearts that recognize the incredible privilege of knowing and serving Him. Let’s challenge ourselves to give God our best, not just our leftovers, remembering that His commands are not burdens but opportunities to grow closer to Him. When we give Him our whole heart, our service becomes a source of joy and fulfillment, not something we begrudge. God is worthy of our full devotion—may we never see serving Him as too hard or too much to ask.

When God’s Commands Collide: Wrestling with Ezra’s Divorce Edict

The story in Ezra 9-10, where Israel’s leaders command the people to divorce their foreign wives and send away their children, can be deeply unsettling. It seems unthinkable for a people called by God to care for the vulnerable, to suddenly turn their backs on their wives and children. Our initial response may be one of horror: how could this be God’s will? These women and young children, likely no older than toddlers given the timeline, are being abandoned. Should we expect this from the “God-fearing” men of Israel?

As we try to understand this difficult passage, it’s clear that these marriages were in direct violation of God’s command in Deuteronomy 7:3-4, where God forbade intermarrying with foreign nations to prevent the spread of idolatry. Ezra’s grief over this sin shows his deep concern for Israel’s spiritual purity, and his leadership reflects a heartfelt desire to bring the people back to God’s covenant. The consensus view among scholars is that Israel was in danger of repeating the same sins that had led them into exile, and this radical measure was necessary to protect the nation from further disobedience. In this sense, the command was aimed at ensuring the long-term survival of Israel as a people devoted to the Lord.

However, as admirable as Ezra’s zeal for God was, we must also wrestle with the painful fallout of this decision. The law emphasized caring for widows and orphans (Exodus 22:22), but these divorces would have created precisely that: a vulnerable group of women and children left without protection and provision. This raises a critical question: was this the best course of action? The passage offers no direct word from God about this particular command, only the advice of Shecaniah, and nowhere do we see God explicitly endorsing the divorces.

When we look at the broader picture of Scripture, we see that God often blessed people despite their failures. Take King David as a prominent example. His harem of wives and concubines clearly violated Deuteronomy 17:17, which forbade Israel’s kings from acquiring many wives. Yet God’s favor was evident in David’s life, not because of his obedience in this area, but because of his heart for God. It suggests that, while these marriages in Ezra were against the law, God may not have required such drastic measures for the people to return to Him. After all, He had already been blessing them before the command to divorce these women was ever issued.

This brings us to another possible interpretation: while the marriages were undeniably wrong, perhaps maintaining them would have been the lesser of two evils. Keeping the marriages intact would uphold the high view of marriage that permeates Scripture, and it would prevent creating the very widows and orphans that Israel was called to protect. After all, God had blessed Israel’s efforts before the divorces—was such a painful remedy really necessary?

In the end, Christians may come to different conclusions about how to interpret Ezra 9-10. Some will see the divorces as a necessary step toward restoring Israel’s faithfulness to the covenant. Others, like myself, hold that while the marriages were certainly wrong, tearing them apart may have done more harm than good. Either way, this passage challenges us to grapple with the complexity of obeying God in a fallen world. It calls us to acknowledge that even in difficult decisions, God’s mercy, justice, and faithfulness can always be trusted. As believers, we can disagree in good faith, but we must always seek to uphold the integrity of both God’s commands and His compassion.