“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved;”
Malachi‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬

Malachi’s message begins where every departure from God begins – in the heart.

The people of Judah lost appreciation for God’s love for them. Moses had told them: “You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth … because the Lord loves you” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). Then Jeremiah told them: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).

God had demonstrated His love for them by choosing them over Esau’s descendants, by helping them return and build the desolate places, and by allowing them to see His greatness shown to others beyond Israel’s borders (Malachi 1:2-5). All this, and yet they asked, “In what way have you loved us?”

We are no different today. Our hearts can easily grow callous to His love for us, and we forget that “in this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). If we begin to lose sight of His great love for us we will slowly be attracted to other things.

This is what happened to the church at Ephesus – they left their first love (Revelation 2:4). So many other things had crept in that their affections for Christ were gone. This is what happened to Judah in Malachi’s day. Looking for material blessings as proof of God’s love, they became blind to all that He had done. As Christians, we must let the Word of God constantly refresh our hearts as to His love for us that was publicly displayed when Christ died for us.

Anchor For Today
The Christian’s life is a pilgrim pathway, but each step of the journey presents a fresh occasion to abide and rely on the faithful love of God our Father.