It Is Not Natural You Must Resolve

Malachi 2:1
“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.

Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

Malachi writes to Israelites a time when they are completely indifferent to spiritual things. They are lukewarm. They are neither hot in spiritual matters or cold in sin. They are neither here nor there. They were sinking into the dark ages of almost 400 years of no message from God. This period is much more known as the intertestamental period. Dark ages refers to approximately 900 years after fall of Roman Empire. However, the intertestamental period is also referred to as dark ages because of the absence of prophetic activities. Until when John the Baptist and Jesus came into the scene.

Malachi writes in a question answer format to show a dialogue between God and His people. God has complaints which the people seem to get shocked and ask how that complaint could be true. Then God responds and they keep quiet. Look at the examples given here.

Malachi 1:6
“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

Malachi 2:17
You have wearied the LORD with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice? ”

Malachi 3:8
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings.

Malachi brings God’s complaints against the people to the people. God begins His complaints by targeting priests who should offer spiritual leadership but are not doing so. At the beginning of chapter two God’s complaints against the priests continues. Our text today is part of God’s complaints against His priests.

God complains that priests have not honored His name. God says to the priests that they are cursed because they do not honor the name of God. They don’t show reverence.

It seemed priests had tried to show reverence but kept failing. God tells them it will not happen naturally. They must resolve that they will honor God’s name. They must resolve that it is what they want to do. It will not happen naturally. They must make up their minds to do it. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

Daniel 1:8
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Daniel and friends so nice food from the king’s table. Tasty food. Attractive food. The food that the king eats. Naturally such food would cause one to salivate and eat as soon as you are allowed. But this food was forbidden by God of Israel. Naturally Daniel would have eaten the food, but Daniel resolved not to eat that food. We must resolve for the natural would mislead us. It was not natural for Joseph to escape a sex offer by Potiphar’s wife, he resolved to reject that engagement. He resolved to run away. Hadn’t he run he would have done it. We must resolve and resolve leads to action like running away. You can’t naturally break up with a bad person. You can’t naturally avoid bad habits and friends. There must be resolve and action.

Our human nature is sinful. Given opportunity we would want nothing to do with God or His will. We must therefore resolve to be believers. It will not happen naturally we must resolves and work towards it. God tells the priests that it will not happen naturally, they must resolve to do it. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

Naturally we would not pray. Naturally we would not study the Bible. Naturally we would not want to attend worship. Naturally we would prefer the forbidden pleasures. If we just depend on our natural pull, we would drift away from God never to return. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

Naturally we can’t love God with all that we have. Naturally we can’t love our neighbors as ourselves. Naturally we can’t forgive or love our enemies. Naturally we can’t return tithes and offerings. Naturally we can’t do church work. Naturally we can’t be selfless. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

To resolve is not equivalent to doing something in order to be saved. To resolve is to make up your mind. To resolve is to put measures in place to ensure you fulfill your baptismal vows. To resolve is to walk away from temptation. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

To resolve is to plan a time when you daily study the Bible and pray. To resolve is to say no to events that will cause you to break the sabbath. To resolve is to plan an autos deduction of tithes and offerings to avoid temptation. To resolve is to do what is within your power and leave the rest to God. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

Even our day to day lives require a resolve. You must resolve to get out of poverty. You must resolve to save and invest. You must resolve to study even when you are tired. You must resolve to do your best academically, at work, in business, etc. You must resolve to be a good parent. You must resolve to make your marriage work. It is not natural, you must resolve to do it!

Help us dear God to make the right resolve. May these resolves yield fruits to God’s glory and a better life on earth, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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