“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?'” (Malachi 1:2a)

Ingratitude And God’s Love

Ingratitude is the highest insult man can give the Lord. Pride is the sin of man believing that he is greater than his Creator and does not need the Divine. After the Jews returned from seventy years of captivity in the land of Babylon, the people struggled to trust the Lord and seek His blessings. Their hearts were cold and hard against the grace of God. Worship became a drab and unfeeling movement of apathy as they sacrificed polluted offerings and wearied to show love for the Lord. The prophet Malachi was burdened with the message of God’s displeasure to the rebellious and unthankful people.

From the beginning of God’s promise to Abraham to make him a great nation, the mercy and grace of God had been extended to Israel time without number. The journey of the Hebrews to a nation of God’s special people was arduous and difficult. After saving His people from the bondage of Egypt, the people complained and murmured for forty years. Because of their lack of faith in God, the nation wandered close to the promised land as everyone above the age of twenty died in the wilderness. Only Joshua and Caleb would live to walk on the soil of the promised land.

During the period of the Judges, God delivered the people from their tormentors. The Lord gave the people a king to lead them, but they were unsatisfied. After the death of Solomon, the nation fell into civil war and divided with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The Assyrians destroyed the northern tribes, and God’s grace spared Judah the same fate. God allowed Babylon to carry His people into captivity for seventy years. The decree of Cyrus sent the Jews home, but it was the handwriting of God that made it possible. Throughout all the many years of Israel’s existence, God was always present to care for and protect His people. And now the Jews murmur against God that He does not love them.

The ingratitude of humanity against the will of God is characteristic of how the world watches the sunrise every day, and life is filled with the grandeur and wonder of creation, and they hate God. Life is given through the hand of the Divine, and man despises the name of the Lord. Everything that man is and has comes from the hand of God. The breath of life begins with the Almighty. Rains fill the parched ground, crops abound with the commerce of plenty, joy and happiness come from the portals of heaven, and man complains that God has no love for them. One of the greatest sins against the Almighty is the heart of ingratitude.

God tells man He loves them, and He sends His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. The world replies, “In what way have You loved us?” The hatred of man against God is seen in how the world rejects God’s mercy and grace. Man has no time for the Lord. The Bible is dismissed as a book of fairy tales. Worship is ridiculed. Righteousness is reviled. Hedonism is the God of humanity denying all the good things God has done. Jesus said His Father allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. God shows his love, and humankind shows his hatred.

Malachi’s message remains the same. God has done everything to bless man with the physical needs of life and give him hope of life after death. There is never a doubt about the love of God. In return, a man complains that God does not love him. The heart is filled with ingratitude for all the blessings of God. What man fails to see is the hand of the Lord in everything. Gratitude turns the heart toward the great Provider and Sustainer of life. Be thankful to God and turn your heart toward His blessings. See the hand of God in all things pertaining to life and happiness. Show your love to God by thanking God for His love. That can only be found in Jesus Christ.