Devotion
Why do you love my brother and not me?
David Jacobs
For those of us with siblings, we may have asked ourselves this question: "which one of us do our parents like the most?" It is a natural question and in some families, may be a legitimate issue. I was lucky, because I really believe that my parents loved all of their children equally. Although we are different, each having our own unique qualities and faults, to our parents we were all the same. What about some of the characters in the Bible who did not felt the same love that I did?
The story that Malachi speaks of is of Esau and Jacob, the sons of Isaac. The two sons were twins and they are described as near opposites of each other: Esau is hairy, profane, and rugged, a skilled hunter; Jacob is a sensitive, loving, and devout man, winning the favor of his mother. Through a series of cunning tricks, Jacob eventually gets Esau to swear his birthright to him (Genesis 25) and then poses as Esau with the help of his mother to get his father's blessing (Genesis 27), leaving Esau with nothing. It begs the question: why did God love Jacob more than Esau? In the historical context of the book of Malachi, why did God allow other nations to rule over the kingdom of Israel?
Prayer
All of this changed with the coming of Christ. Christ wiped the slate clean, with God proving that he loves us all equally. Christ's life is a testament to that, and his teachings only reinforce it. Believer, non-believer, Jew, Gentile, Greek, man, woman...God loves us all equally, our merciful Father.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
