“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”
Malachi 1:2-3
For hundreds of years, this little passage has been the focus of tremendous controversy. The reason for this is that you have God speaking and essentially saying, “I love Jacob and I hate Esau.” Paul even quotes this passage in Romans 9:13 talking about God’s sovereign choice.
The problem many encounter when they come to this passage is that they immediately see the words “hate” and “love” and they assign them emotional meanings. But, as you may already know, ‘love’ in the Bible has little to do with emotion and more to do with action. And in the same way, so does ‘hate’.
So what does God mean when he declares, “…Esau I have hated”? Well, throughout the pages of the Scripture Esau was always seen as the enemy of Jacob. Jacob was synonymous with faithful people while Esau represented the unfaithful people, those who trade spiritual for the physical. Those are the people God rejects – the ‘Esaus’ of the world.
It’s important to understand that before you claim faith in Jesus Christ, God must do a work in you. And there are some he elects to work in and some he does not. Romans 9:16 says, “(Salvation) depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
So for those who are truly in Christ, we have the assurance that God began working in us long before we were even in him. And in Christ, you can have the assurance that he’ll never let you go!
YOUR SALVATION ISN’T DEPENDENT ON YOU, BUT GOD. SO IN CHRIST, YOU CAN BE ASSURED THAT GOD HAS YOU FIRMLY IN HIS GRIP!
I Can’t Give the Lord a Broken Dollar”
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
2 Samuel 24:22–24
When the Canadian Presbyterian Mission was working to buy land to build a church in Tungliao, China, in the late 1800s, they asked church members to give what they could. One of the poorest men in the church made his living as a swineherd. He had almost nothing, but wanted to help. He asked the pastor what he should give, and the pastor encouraged him to seek God’s direction. He took his fattest pig to market and sold it for the equivalent of $13.35. On his way home he thought, “I can’t give the Lord a broken dollar.” From his poverty he scrapped together another 65 cents to make his gift an even $14.00. Within one year, the church had not only been able to buy the land, but build a building, completely debt free.
Too often when it comes to giving we “round down” instead of “rounding up.” We give God as little as we think we can get by with giving. Yet in truth all that we have already belongs to Him. When we are generous with the resources God has entrusted to us to support His work, He blesses greatly. When we are stingy, we rob ourselves of His best for us.
Today's Growth Principle:
We should give to God from a heart of gratitude for all He has done for us.
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