Every night I have a quiet time which consists of a short devotional (in the ESV) and that day’s “Bible in a Year” assigned reading (in the Message paraphrase). Last night’s reading was the book of Malachi (I start in September). I had read this passage before, and many other translations carry the same meaning, but the Message’s paraphrase of Malachi 1:12-14 especially stood out to me:
“Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!”

My initial response to this was, “Great! A good way to guilt people into donating new items to the Children’s Ministry!”. But then in thinking about it some more, I realized that this could be applied to our personal lives as well.

Often when we are burned out, we stop giving our best to God. We may or may not attend worship, but whether we do or not, we may not feel like giving God our worship or may feel like prayer is ineffective. However, our God is amazing and deserving of our best! And many times, you will find that if you give your best, God gives his best back.

Check out God’s word for encouragement constantly, and connect with other ministers in your area. Encouragement can come from the strangest places sometimes. Don’t be terribly showy. Just give God you, and nothing more, and that will make him more than pleased.