Renowned theologian B. B. Warfield told his students that studying God in seminary was both a great danger and a great privilege. It was dangerous because they might get used to it and lose their appreciation for God's Word. When it's your job to study the Bible, day in and day out, God and His salvation may start to seem mundane. But what a privilege! How blessed are you if your greatest danger is that you are spending so much time learning about Jesus that you might take Him for granted!

But it's still a danger. Israel's priests offered sacrifices, day in and day out. It was their job, and it bored them. God says they might as well stop. ″Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar!″ (Malachi 1:10). The priests had forgotten how privileged they were. God had chosen them to lead His people in worship, to honour the one true God, whose ″name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets″ (v. 11).

And they don't care. Worse, they treat God and His worship with contempt. They ″sniff at it contemptuously″ and say ″What a burden!″ (v. 13). They promise to sacrifice a perfect lamb from the flock, but ″bring injured, lame, or diseased animals″ instead (vv. 13-14).

Marriage counsellors say there are few things worse than contempt. They can help couples navigate the hot emotion of anger, but when that cools into disgust and hardens into disdain, when conversations are punctuated by sarcasm and eye rolling, when spouses can't stand to be in the same room, then the couples are headed for divorce. Their only hope is to remember why they once loved and respected their spouse. So, God reminds His scornful priests, ″I am a great king, and my name is to be feared among the nations″ (v. 14).

When you've been stuck for a long time, and your prayers don't seem to make any difference, it's tempting to treat God with contempt. Worship can feel like a burden, something you must do on top of everything else. This is your great danger. But it's also your high privilege. You're not doomed to wallow in your stuck situation. You can break out of it as you pray, read God's Word, and gather with God's people to praise and celebrate Jesus.

I don't know how and where you are stuck. I do know, however, that God provides you with the privilege of putting your problems on pause, forgetting them for an hour or so as you gather with His people to rejoice that your most important issues are settled in Christ. Get to church!