We are surrounded by compromise. Take a look around your current environment and you will see it. Are you in the house of your dreams? What about your car? Is it exactly the one you wanted, or did you have to settle for less than the perfect one? How about your job? Truth is, very few things live up to the ideal in my head. It’s ok, we learn to live with compromises in the material world. But, what about the spiritual world? Are we compromising there too? Malachi says yes.
How do we find compromises in our lives? The standards are provided in scripture. Problem is, God’s rules are hard. So, we turn from rules and make up our own. Instead of giving the full tithe, we adjust the definition of tithing. We hold back our time and talent, pointing our passion toward careers instead of God’s callings. These shifts are subtle, we think. But not to God. He sees them all very clearly and they separate us from him.
Thankfully, Malachi tells of a messenger that is coming. A messenger that will prepare a way for Jesus. It is Jesus’ uncompromising life and perfect death that reunites us with God. He will eliminate our compromises so that we may have life.