Our Best Offerings

One of the principles taught in the book of Malachi that caught my attention this week was the importance of giving the Lord our best offerings (Malachi 1). The Come, Follow Me manual asks us to ponder the question "why does the Lord ask us to give Him our best offerings?" I thought about this for a few days and after a lot of study and thought on this question, I think one answer could be that by offering our best to the Lord, we are mirroring the sacrifice He gave to us. God gave us His Best in sending and sacrificing His firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior for all of His children. By offering our best to the Lord, we are modeling God-like behavior and honoring the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son.

As you continue to read into chapter three, Malachi reminds the Israelites of the important principle of paying their tithes. In connection with the principle of "giving the Lord our best" I asked myself the question "how do we give the Lord our best when we pay our tithing?" After much thought and study the idea came to me that if the Lord originally asked the Israelites to sacrifice the "firstlings of their flocks" (Moses 5) and the "firstfruits" of their harvest (Leviticus 2), then it seems we should follow that same pattern and give the first portion of our paychecks to the Lord as our tithing sacrifice.

Returning back to Malachi 1, I love the self-reflective question the Lord poses to the Israelites with regard to the "lame and sick" offerings they were bringing to sacrifice. He says "offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee?" (1:8) Another good question to ask ourselves is who/what represents the "governor" in our lives that we mistakenly give our finest offerings to, and by so doing, end up giving our "lame" offerings to God?

What kind of sacrifices are we making for the Lord? Are we sacrificing our time, talents and efforts in order to strengthen our relationship with Him and build His kingdom? Sacrifice is hard! It's giving up something we really cherish and value for something else that is more important. Sacrificing for the Lord shows our faith in Him and that He sent His son to earth, to give His life for us and show us how to live so that we can one day return and live with Him again someday.

Surviving or Thriving

In the Bible Dictionary we read that "the two chapters in the book of Haggai contain an exhortation to the people to be more zealous about the public worship of God and the rebuilding of his temple." It seems as if the people were so comfortable (and maybe a a bit worn out) from rebuilding their homes that they had put off rebuilding the Lord's house (1:2-4). The Lord was not pleased with their misplaced priorities and tells them twice to "consider your ways" (1:5,7) or in today's lingo, get your priorities straight!

I love that the verse inbetween the exhortations of "consider your ways" is a verse filled with metaphors describing things that are unsatisfactory-seeds that don't produce much fruit, food and drink that doesn't fill you up, clothes that don't keep you warm, and a bag that won’t hold your money (v. 6).  The lesson I understood from these verses is that if our priorities are out of whack then we will never get past just surviving. But if we put our priorities in order then we can thrive!

One of my favorite talks about priorities is by Sister Julie B. Beck called Choose Ye This Day to Serve the Lord. In this talk she shares her thoughts about a prioritizing system that she was inspired to create that has helped her keep her priorities straight. Her three categories are:

1. essential things 
2. necessary things 
3. nice-to-do things

In her essential category goes everything that is essential to receiving personal revelation; daily scripture study and prayer, weekly attendance at church meetings, time in the temple, sharing the gospel, and serving others.

On her necessary list are things like work, cooking, cleaning, and shopping. Finally, on the nice-to-do list go things such as hobbies and movies. I love her short testimony of how this system has worked for her. She says, "To walk with the Lord, we have to know what is essential, what is necessary, and what is nice to do. There is a lot to do, but I find that it is amazing how much I get to do on my nice-to-do list. The Lord blesses us with those mercies, but only if the other priorities are in order." 

This same pattern holds true with the people in the book of Haggai. As they repent and begin their work on the temple, the Lord begins again to bless them in many ways (2:18-19). The same pattern can also be realized in our lives as well. As we "consider our ways" by looking at our priority lists and making sure we are doing the most important things first, the Lord will also bless us to prosper and flourish.

Messages of Hope

In the introductory paragraph for this week’s Come, Follow Me lesson it reads “Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah…weren’t just prophets of doom-they were prophets of deliverance. The descriptions of destruction are tempered by invitations to come unto Christ and receive His mercy.” As we understand that God always offers us hope during the dark times, we can read these books and look for the messages of hope that shine through the darkness.

Nahum

• 1:7-The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
• 1:15-him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!

Habakkuk 

• 1:5-I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
• 2:4-the just shall live by his faith.
• 2:14-the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
• 3:18-19-I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength.

Zephaniah 

• 3:14-Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart.
• 3:15- thou shalt not see evil anymore.
• 3:16-Fear thou not
• 3:17-The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy
• 3:19-I will undo all that afflict thee

Our prophet, President Nelson, also shares messages of hope that shine through the darkness of our day. I read through his most recent talk about Overcoming the World and looked specifically for the messages of hope he gives to us...There were a lot! Here's just a sample of the ones I found.

• "In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior's power that the world has ever seen."
• "Between now and the time He returns 'with power and great glory,' He will bestow countless privileges, blessings. and miracles upon the faithful."
• "Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples-and keeps them-has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ...this power eases our way."
• "Covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God."
• "as you truly repent and seek His help, you can rise above this present precarious world. You can overcome the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world."
• "Living the doctrine of Christ can produce the most powerful virtuous cycle, creating spiritual momentum in our lives."

Pres. Nelson has said "the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." (Joy and Spiritual Survival). Looking for, and focusing on messages of hope that come from our prophets and apostles can help us feel more peace and joy in a world that can so easily feel scary and overwhelming.