敬拜中不可或缺的
神竟然希望有人关上衪圣殿的门，真是事态严重了！圣经中关于敬拜的警告，以这次最为严厉。我们敬拜神，若不是为了爱衪和尊崇祂，只是惯性地参加各项活动，是没有任何益处的。
以色列民以为他们的敬拜是以神为中心的，他们来到圣殿，要得到神的恩惠和寻求衪的帮助——难道这不是以神为中心吗？
很多信奉宗教的人，包据基督徒在内，对敬拜都有相同的态度。通常他们都很注重敬拜的仪式，认为“我们一定要做得妥当，不然，神便会不高兴了，衪便不垂听我们的祷告，甚至降祸给我们。” 可惜他们不明白，他们这些想法和努力，并不真的是以神为中心。如果我们这样敬拜神，实质上我们是以自己为中心，我们只是关心我们可以从神那里得到什么好处。
当然，神能看透我们自私的动机，衪知道这样的敬拜根本不是敬拜，我们只是尝试藉着敬拜来利用神而己。当神说，“我的名在外邦中必尊为大”时，衪希望我们会因衪对我们的爱顿生敬畏，以致我们不得不赞美衪。这种敬畏的心，就是我们因神伟大的爱产生的降服、赞叹、和惊喜，是我们的敬拜不可或缺的。
亲爱的耶稣，我们是祢的殿，我们感到不配，因为祢如此爱我们，甚至拯救我们，并且让祢的灵常常住在我们心里。我们肃然敬畏祢！奉耶稣名祷告，阿们。
玛拉基书 1:10-14
10甚愿你们中间有一人关上殿门，免得你们徒然在我坛上烧火。万军之耶和华说：我不喜悦你们，也不从你们手中收纳供物。
11万军之耶和华说：从日出之地到日落之处，我的名在外邦中必尊为大。在各处，人必奉我的名烧香，献洁净的供物，因为我的名在外邦中必尊为大。
12你们却亵渎我的名，说：‘耶和华的桌子是污秽的，其上的食物是可藐视的。’
13你们又说：‘这些事何等烦琐！’并嗤之以鼻。这是万军之耶和华说的。你们把抢夺的、瘸腿的、有病的拿来献上为祭。我岂能从你们手中收纳呢？这是耶和华说的。
14行诡诈的在群中有公羊，他许愿却用有残疾的献给主，这人是可咒诅的。因为我是大君王，我的名在外邦中是可畏的。这是万军之耶和华说的。
Shut The Doors, Keep Out The People
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!" — Malachi 1:10
How horrible that God wanted his own temple doors closed! This is one of the strongest biblical warnings about worship. If our worship isn't really about loving and honoring God, it won't do any good to go through the motions.
The Israelites thought their worship was about God. They came to the temple to win God's favor and seek God's help—wasn't that all about God?
Many people of many religions, including many Christians, approach worship the same way. Often they are very concerned about the manner of worship. "We have to get this right," they think, "or God will be upset with us, won't answer our prayers, and might bring bad things upon us." Unfortunately they don't realize their thinking and their efforts are not really about God. If we worship that way, it is really about us—what we can get for ourselves from God.
God, of course, sees through to our selfish motives. He knows that such worship is not worship at all; it's only an attempt to manipulate him. When God says that his "name is to be feared among the nations," he wants us to be awestruck by his love for us—so awestruck that we cannot help praising him. That's the kind of fear—that is, awe, wonder, and amazement at God's great love—that should engage our worship.
Dear Jesus, we are your temple. We are humbled that you would love us so much to save us and to honor us with the constant presence of your Spirit. We stand in awe of you! Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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