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Ever felt like being in the right place but in a wrong state of heart? How often is it when you meet in the Lord’s house to find that the condition of your heart is not right before God? There is always that inner accusing voice that softly pricks at your conscience reminding you that something is just not right. As a Christian, these are the subtle signs of you moving away from God, which if not addressed, could ultimately lead to fruitlessness in your walk with God.
The condition of the people in Malachi’s days was no different from the days of their ancestors which brought upon them the captivity into Babylon. Their continued disobedience of God resulted in backsliding of the people. They wearied God (Mal. 2:17)and robbed God (Mal. 3:7, 8) through their tithes and offerings. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’” (Mal. 3:8). Can Christians today too “rob God”? They can by unconsciously using their possessions, time and energy to pursue personal selfish interests. Laxity in prayers and missing out participating in the Lord’s Supper are signs that we are not displaying reverence to God. We must wake up to the reality of the state of our devotion and worship of God before we expect any blessings.
Isaiah 29:13 warns us: “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’”. Moving away from God can start when you compromise and ignore personal sin in your life. Over time, you eventually lose sight of the need for Jesus Christ in your daily walk. Such regression is gradual and it begins in your heart before it is manifested to fellow believers. It is often caused by a neglect of prayer time and communion with God. Time spent in the presence of God is necessary for the enjoyment and fellowship with Him. It prevents us from going our own way. The other cause is to neglect the Bible. By neglecting His Word, we are setting aside the only guide God has given to us to direct our footsteps in the path of righteousness.
Fortunately, the unchanging faithfulness and forgiving nature of our Father in Heaven means that His heart is always open to our coming back to Him in full repentance in the name of Jesus. Like the people in Malachi’s days, there can be no blessings unless the people obeyed and genuinely repented. In our walk with God we must cry out in sincerity: “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord”!
