It is easy to imagine that, by the time Jesus was born, the Heavens were in a full-blown panic. God’s grand experiment that began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had become a complete failure. Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden thus severing the intimate relationship they had enjoyed with God. The distance between God and His people only grew wider from there as the years passed.

Through Moses, God instituted the Law, which was a set of standards intended to help people live faithfully to God and draw near to Him. There were generations of Jews who lived faithfully according to the Law, but no one could completely fulfill the Law and thus no one could once again enjoy that intimate relationship. As generations passed, God’s people grew more distant. Isaiah wrote about the condition of their hearts…

The Lord says:
“These people come near to Me with their mouth
and honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from Me.
Their worship of Me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught. Isaiah 29:13 NIV

God’s people had a heart problem. They could go through the motions but couldn’t make their hearts be sincere. By the time Malachi penned His final words of the Old Testament, the situation was beyond broken. Even so, God’s plan for redemption was already in motion to restore what was broken and renew what has been lost.

Prayer emphasis: Ask God today to help you be sincere in your faith and to give you the desire to walk with Him faithfully.

Family Discussion:

When have you ever gone through the motions but your heart just wasn’t in the activity?
In what ways could this be a description of your walk with God?
What needs to change in your life today for you to be more sincere?