Reverence And Honor Despised

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? says the Lord of hosts to the priests who despise My name.

“Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’

“You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’

“By saying, “The table of the Lord is contemptible’.”–Malachi 1:6-7

In 1900, Elisha A Hoffman penned the hymn “Is Your All On The Altar?”. The first line of the chorus repeats this question, but takes it a step farther by defining the altar.. “Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?” The second line then asks us, “Your heart does the Spirit control?”. Too often, we respond with a confident “Yes”, all-the-while knowing this is not true. We are often willing to sacrifice our time, our money, and even our families, but we do so before we give up our sin. As the Lord spoke those words in Malachi, we are guilty of the same sins as the priest…we are defiling God’s altar. We are not honoring, nor are we giving reverence to our Father and Master.

Before we can go to the altar of sacrifice, we need to seek an altar of repentance. Notice that I said “we”; this includes me. I can speak from personal experience of the times I would seek forgiveness for my sins for a day, knowing I would return to them before too long. If we continue to return to our sins, like the hog to its wallow, then we are NOT putting our all on the altar of sacrifice. We are even adding lying to our list of sins.

The remainder of the song’s chorus gives us the following promise; one that I have found to be true.

“You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.”

Let us today—and every day—lift each other up in prayer. It is easier to give your all when you have others lifting you up in prayer.