Worship is the natural expression of our love for a holy God. Now this God we believe in is a jealous God who demands the totality of our worship, for he is the object of our honor and our respect.
Malachi hits the dot when addressing the issue of hypocritical worship. Apparently, the term “hypocrite” has Elizabethan roots. An actor would play numerous roles by switching masks. It was the same person, but a different face. The word “hypocrite” in today’s terminology is completely negative now - he or she is a person who talks out of both sides of their mouth, someone who goes through the proper motions but has a hidden agenda. Have you ever heard that phrase "I got so much out of worship today" ? its warped i tell you. Its not what we get out of it, but rather what we GIVE out of ourselves to Him.
There is a natural order and a natural flow of things. First comes love, then comes Worship. These 2 values go hand-in-hand or rather they're like hand in glove. There can be no separating our love for God from our worship of who God is.
In Malachi's time, he speaks of Worship services which have become routine and mundane. The people were showing up for corporate worship but their lifestyle demonstrated a selfish priority. Its scary how our time and age is not so much different from theirs. Malachi emphasizes the need for true worship, and the heart of his message identifies what true worship is. True worship must have a sincere respect for God. True worship must give a sacrificial response to God. Is God our buddy-buddy? or is he our master whom we honour and respect (Malachi 1:6)? For our God says "I am a great King, and my name is to be feared among the nations" (Malachi 1:14) Where's the fear in our generation today? It's like we've bottled him up into a tiny cute little package of love and happiness.. and we don't recognize this is the same avengeful God who can brutally strip us into nothing.
