Malachi gives us plenty to chew on.
Here are some bites I am taking:
Sometimes it is confusing to sort the good from the evil. Maybe that is because it is not really our job.
God says there will come a day when it will be very obvious who serves Him and who does not.
Even our own motives can be vague to us. We compartmentalize our lives. We point to one area and say, “This honors the Lord,” while another area remains untouched. We name some activity as service to God, but perhaps it is more self-serving than we realize.
Then again, we may dismiss some menial task as too small to matter. Yet that very act of hidden faithfulness may be what pleases Him most.
We may be confused about ourselves.
We may be equally confused about others.
But God is not confused.
Malachi says the arrogant and the evildoers will be like stubble. Stubble is what has no lasting substance. It may look like something for a season, but when the heat comes, it is gone.
Arrogance burns away.
Evil burns away.
False greatness burns away.
Whatever has no substance in our lives cannot survive the heat of God’s righteous judgment.
So perhaps our prayer should be:
Lord, let that fire come early. Burn away the stubble now. I do not need it.
But the heat of God is experienced differently by His people.
For those who fear His name, “the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.”
The same holy God who judges evil also brings healing to the faithful.
The same light that exposes arrogance brings warmth, restoration, and joy to those who trust Him.
And then Malachi gives us this wonderful image:
We shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Not dragging.
Not shrinking.
Not hiding.
Leaping.
Alive.
Free.
Healed.
The oppressors will not have the last word.
The arrogant will not have the last word.
The wicked will not have the last word.
God will make things clear.
God will make things right.
God will turn hearts.
God will remember His people.
God will come.
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.
Pastor Tom's Community 
Leave a comment