As it was in Malachi’s day, so it is still the case today that many are willing to put personality over principle, and because of ignorance of the Scriptures, they are apt to go in any direction. Franklin Camp once observed, “When you leave the principle of the need for Bible authority, there is no end to where you will wind up.”

Can we not see that this is true? Worship and moral issues would, then, be settled by what men want instead of what God wants (Proverbs 14:12; Jeremiah10:23; Leviticus 10:1-2; 1 John 2:3-5). God’s people came to embrace the sins of the day and wanted to find acceptance and popularity with the world. They decided to offer a truce of peace with the false religions of the day. It is no surprise, then, that we find even God’s people are readily accepting idolatry. No wonder God would ask his people, “Have you grown tired of me?”

We can see the progression. Tolerance led to acceptance, and that acceptance eventually led to joint participation. My friends, these three things have not only influenced religion down through the ages, they have also had an unsettling effect on things pertaining to moral issues. We will just mention two, homosexuality and abortion. When people of our day are willing to follow the false philosophies of the world and thus plunge headlong into immorality and into religious error, then, isn’t it obvious that they also have grown tired of God (Romans 1:24-32; Proverbs 23:23)? Micah, like Hosea, became disturbed over the hypocrisy of Jehovah’s bride, Israel. He boldly preached to them. We need that bold preaching today (2 Timothy 4:1-4)!

Can we see three similarities between what had taken place in Micah’s day and our day? Because of the ignorance of the Word of God, God’s people were influenced by the world around them, and also by the false religions of that day and time. We recall their strong desire for acceptance of the world. We regret that God’s people were willing to compromise truth to find that acceptance. Their lax attitudes toward truth led to departures in worship to God.

First, one of these had to do with improper attitudes in worship. They thought that they could simply go through the forms and not have to have their hearts in it. Second, they thought that they could observe rituals while they neglected righteousness. Third, they thought they would do no harm in adopting into their worship some of the religious practices of their neighbors, but obviously, this led to a departure from God and truth in their worship. Such a departure from God finally led them to idolatry. Short steps from God’s pattern led to long distances of apostasy.

What about worship today? Has it become a ritual or habit? Are we active participants in worship or just observers? Are our hearts bowed in humility before the one true and living God? Am I still concerned about what is authorized in worship (John 9:24; Romans 1:9; Colossians 3:17)? Do we recognize the Godhead as the audience and that we are to offer in worship only what pleases God? Do we need to be reminded that the only way we can know what pleases Him is through what He has revealed in His Word? A good question for many today still is, “Have you grown tired of God?

By Therman Hodge