The Israelites struggled with giving God their damaged goods too. When He spoke through the prophet Malachi, He rebuked the Israelites for sacrificing the defects and blemish. (Malachi 1:6–8) “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. 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. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. By offering defiled food on my altar. By saying that the Lord’s Table is contemptible. When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 1:10 says, God showed His displeasure. He announced His displeasure affirmed His worthiness, and reprimanded the Israelites for keeping the best for themselves. But God also promised to send the Messiah, whose love and grace would transform their hearts and ignite their desire to bring offerings that would be pleasing to Him (3:1) “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the LORD you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.”
At times, it can be tempting to give God our leftovers. We praise Him and expect Him to give us His all, yet we offer Him our crumbs. When we consider all God has done, we can rejoice in celebrating His worthiness and giving Him our very best.
__________________________________________________________________________