A young man is going on his first date. He buys her flowers and candy, shows up in his best suit and opens the door for her everywhere they go. As they fall in love he begins to buy her jewelry. First earrings, then a necklace, and finally an engagement ring.
The couple gets married and the first year is great. They go on an exotic honeymoon, they go out every weekend, and he even remembers her birthday and their anniversary! But, and you all know where I'm going with this, life happens. He wakes up later and later, so there is no time in the morning to talk before work. He gets home from a hard day at work and eats, watches television, and falls asleep on the couch. He no longer shaves on the weekend and rarely do they go on dates anymore. If they do it's to a sports bar and grill so he can keep one eye on the game. Birthday? What's that? Anniversary? For what? If you look closely you will see that the once joyous heart is now broken.
But the reverse can happen. The wife used to wake up every morning to make her hubby breakfast. They would talk before he had to leave and she would kiss him bye. But then the children came and she was exhausted and she got up later and later. No more breakfasts, no more talks, no more kisses. He would come home to Hamburger Helper and a wife unkempt. On weekends he was given a "honey-do" list a mile long. And whereas they once worked on projects together, he is now on his own. Years pass and he wonders, does she still love me?
Oh how time can change relationships. Oh how time can bring a person to take their loved one for granted. The special touches and the special moments begin to fade away over the years. What was once so important, time and energy, is now not as important in the hearts of the lovers. Instead of a nice, nutritious meal for dinner, Hamburger Helper and leftovers are made. Birthday cards are no longer written in with well thought out notes of love, but whatever Hallmark says is just fine with a "love, me," scribbled at the bottom.
A newly wedded couple would look at this couple and swear that this will never happen to them, but almost all who say that fall into the same trap. It's easy to do. It's comfortable. It's natural.
What happens though when this becomes our relationship with God? What happens when we start taking God for granted and start showing less and less love for Him? You may say that God is above that. He's not. You may say that God would never hold that against me. He will.
This was the situation in Malachi's day. They were taking God for granted. They were just going through the motions. There was no meaning behind them for the people. And God has had enough. This morning we are going to look at this confrontation that Malachi had with the people, particularly the priests. And we are going to then go through the difficult process of self-examination.
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