In this daily Bible reading God speaks to Judah through the prophet Malachi. God tells Judah the things they were doing that were annoying to God; things that were keeping God’s blessings from them. They were doing ritualistic sacrifices as God had instructed them. However, they were using animals that were blemished, animals that were diseased or injured. Therefore, it was not really a sacrifice. The people were not giving God things that they valued. In this case they were not giving God perfect animals from their flocks. They were rather giving God animals they did not want or value. Therefore, God was not blessing the people or their land.
God told the people another annoyance. Men were divorcing the ‘wife of their youth,’ probably to get a younger wife. They were breaking their marriage vows. God said through Malachi, “Let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce.”
I believe that being faithful to one’s wife is like being faithful to God. Men must be faithful to their wives in good times and in bad. We also must be faithful to God in good times and in bad. Living our lives in this matter will bring great blessings to us during our lives. Being faithful to God will also give us a better opportunity to be allowed into Heaven after we die.
