God Wants Your Whole Heart

Malachi Recap

We’re nearing the end of our study of Malachi, but since we took last Sunday off from the series because of our missionary speaker, I’ll bring us back up to date with a short synopsis of the book of Malachi.

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament – God’s Word through the prophet Malachi about 100 years after the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon. During the hundred years, they rebuilt the city wall and the temple that had been destroyed. Their allegiance to God, however, was very half-hearted. In this book, God challenges their apathy with several disputes. He clearly knows what they are thinking, and so He answers their complaints.

• “How have You loved us?” We saw how God compared Jacob and Esau – how He loved Jacob and hated Esau. I pointed out that predestination (which is biblical) is not the same as predetermination (which is not).
• “How have we shown contempt for Your name?” They were giving God defiled sacrifices – literally giving God their leftovers.
• God say: “You ask ‘Why?’ when your offerings are not accepted.” Israel had been “unfaithful to the wife of their youth.” We discussed the biblical teachings on divorce.
• “How have we wearied You?” The Israelites were saying that evil-doers were doing well, and they questioned God’s justice. Like whiny children, they complained that God wasn’t fair.
• “How are we robbing You?” The Israelites were not giving God the required one-tenth of their crops – the tithe. We talked about whether the tithe is a biblical command in a New Testament world, and we noted God’s expectation of generosity.
• Today – “What have we said against You?” Uh-ohh! Based on the question and the way the whole book has gone, I can imagine this isn’t going to go well for the Israelites. Let’s take a look, beginning in the third chapter of Malachi.

Malachi 3:13-15 – ¹³“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”

I understand this sounds like just a lot more of the “God is not fair” complaint. “Look, God, these arrogant evildoers are prospering, and You don’t even notice! They are getting away with it.” But this passage also has a new aspect when they ask, “God, do You even notice all this good stuff we are doing to please You? Why aren’t You rewarding us for being so good?” It certainly seems they are trying to EARN something with their obedience and mourning.

But here’s what makes Christianity unique: we believe that NOBODY can EARN God’s favor or their own salvation. God chose to love us and send Jesus to die for our sins. We can’t earn that. All we can do is choose to accept God’s forgiveness and respond with a heart full of love and gratitude to Him.

Think of this in terms of marriage. Those of you who are married, have you ever tried to do something nice for your spouse, secretly hoping they will then return the favor with a kind gesture toward you? “Look, Michelle, I did the dishes and the laundry for you today.” But when Michelle responds with “Thanks” but doesn’t rush at me with hugs and kisses, I can feel disappointed. If she knows I’m trying to earn hugs and kisses, then she may feel like the whole thing was just manipulation rather than a loving gesture. The Israelites were doing the same thing, and they were disappointed that God saw right through it.

Here is a unique response to this dispute. God tells a story.

Malachi 3:16-18

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 

¹⁷“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. 

This story shows us that God sees everything. He sees the complainers and those who find Him to be unfair. But He also sees the remnant – the righteous ones who have given God their whole hearts and who fear and revere Him.

And He listens to them as if He’s right there among them – like a fly on the wall. And He watches them write the scroll of remembrance to record all His faithful deeds He has done for them. And then, God says, one day He will separate the righteous from the wicked. There will be a distinction, and the two groups will have different consequences.

Before I go further, notice that this topic of God’s divine judgment seems to have come up in numerous messages over the past few months. This has NOT been intentional. It does prove, however, that even though this is not a popular topic in today’s Christianity, judgment comes up over and over in the pages of scripture. There is no getting around it or softening the Gospel enough to make it go away. Some people try, but you would have to do some unnatural theological gymnastics to try to erase the final judgment day of God from the Bible.

Malachi 4:1a – “Surely the day is coming. . . .

See? Just as we have people today who doubt God will ever have a harsh judgment for anyone, Malachi knew the people of his day doubted that God’s judgment would ever come. Therefore he made sure to give them a very clear reminder.

Malachi 4:1b – It will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.”

As we saw earlier in this book, God’s judgment is often described in terms of fire, with lives being burned up and destroyed. That’s why in popular culture everyone thinks of Hell being filled with flames. We shouldn’t assume, though, that this is a literal picture of God’s judgment unless we take the next verses literally as well. They tell us that the righteous will be jumping and skipping around on the ashes of the wicked (something I believe is more symbolic than literal).

Malachi 4:2-3 – ²But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. ³Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

This is the first statement in Malachi that points to the reward of the righteous. Previously, future judgment was described for the wicked only, but here we finally see this picture of the remnant – those who honor and revere God – experiencing the blessing of eternal life. This blessing is described by images that were popular in their day: the joy from the rising sun and the response of calves frolicking in a field. It is a picture of happiness and freedom from the injustice the people saw all around.

The Overarching Theme of Malachi

As we have marched through the book of Malachi, we have consistently seen that people question God because He doesn’t act how they think He should. They have expectations for God, but He doesn’t seem to care to meet their expectations.

The people don’t understand, however, that they have some massive blind spots. They live disjointed lives in which they try half-heartedly to appease God but live for themselves.

In every case, God sees right through them. He sees their distrust and how they do whatever they want if they think it will help them out. And so, no, He doesn’t reward them the way they want Him to.

Let’s be honest. How they are living their lives is a far cry from the Shema, the crucial words from the law that every Israelite had memorized:

Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

In fact, when you look through the pages of scripture, you see this refrain over and over:

God wants your whole heart.

Nowhere in the pages of scripture do we see someone held up as a hero who gives God only a part of their heart. People who gave God their whole hearts include Moses and Joshua and King David. Characters who hold back from God are instead seen as villains. That’s the story of Saul, the failed first king of Israel, who never fully trusted God and who argued with God when things didn’t go the way he wanted.

If God Has Your Whole Heart . . .

Today we know many people who say they are Christians but try to earn salvation by following the rules. They don’t actually have a relationship with Jesus. There is a great difference between them and the people who have given God their whole heart and fully surrendered to Him. Working through what we have read in Malachi, we can develop a picture of someone who has given God their whole heart. See how you measure up.

• You’ll recognize His goodness. You won’t wonder if God loves you. You won’t see Him as a mean, cruel father who is waiting to punish you. Instead, you will feel confidence in His love, care, concern and provision for your life.
• You’ll give Him your best. You won’t give God just your leftovers – the last couple of minutes before you fall asleep at night, or the last dollar in your wallet after you buy whatever you please for yourself. You’ll carve out your best time, energy and focus and give THAT to Him. You’ll live your life trying to honor Him as fully and completely as you possibly can.
• You’ll trust in His justice. You’ll stop wondering why bad things happen to good people, and you’ll be at peace with the idea that life is not fair . . . for now . . . but in the end, God’s righteous justice will prevail. All the wrongs will be made right. You’ll live with a hope for the future, believing that God is faithful and that the Day of the Lord will surely come.
• You’ll be generous with offerings. You won’t hold back, nor will you give out of compulsion or because you feel you have to. Instead, giving will be a joy-filled response to what God has given to you. When you donate to the church or a ministry, you will feel satisfaction and contentment rather than regret that you had to part with that dollar.
• You’ll worship without expecting something in return. Your spirituality or obedience won’t be just a payment for some future blessing or an attempt to earn a trip to Heaven or avoid a trip to Hell. Instead, your worship will be a response to the God you love.

Conclusion

In the time of Malachi, much like today, many people’s love for God had grown cold. They were trying to serve Him without it actually costing them much at all. They wanted to live their lives on their terms AND receive God’s blessing.

God is not satisfied with apathetic Christians who try to live with one foot in the world and the other in His kingdom.

Knowing that, and seeing how God called out the Israelites 2400 years ago, we have to evaluate our own lives. Are you giving God your whole heart, or are you holding something back? Are you trusting His goodness and His justice and His faithfulness? Is your hope for a future rooted in your ability to take care of yourself?

If you find yourself with one foot in and one foot out, take a moment to look back over your life. Create your own book of remembrance, and remember all the times God has spoken to you, provided for you, and protected you. Then give Him your whole heart. He has faithfully proved He can be trusted with it.