In All Fairness

Malachi 3:13-15 (MSG)
GOD says, "You have spoken hard, rude words to me. "You ask, 'When did we ever do that?'
"When you said, 'It doesn't pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.' "

God is noting four statements his unfaithful children have made.

1. It does not pay to serve God
2. Repentance gets us nowhere
3. It is the evil doer, not the righteous who prosper
4. Even those who insolently challenge God's demands escape punishment

Sometimes it might feel like those who do what pleases them and not what is right, get all the breaks. It seems unfair that the neighbor who is cruel to his family gets that huge promotion at his work. Then there is the woman at the desk next to you who takes extra time on her breaks and lunch hours but still is your boss.

Playing the comparison game is not healthy nor productive. God knows all and sees all. When we behave in a way that is pleasing to Him, it doesn't go unnoticed. What our neighbor or our boss does is none of our business, unless they are Christian. (Then we are to confront them with love, but that's another blog post).

This is the reason we go on...
Malachi 3:17-18 (NIV)
"They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." 

Malachi 3:13-4:3

The Story - Chapter 21 - Malachi: 3 and 4

Malachi 3 "The Day of Judgment" 
Malachi 4 "The Day of the Lord"

These are mighty serious headings. When I hear people making judgments about others, or when I catch myself doing the same I often think, “Who are we to judge? There is only one true judge, and it ain’t us!”  But the thought of being seriously judged by the Lord himself is really kind of a scary thought. Though we believe, think we are doing what is righteous in God’s eyes, and know that His grace is the only thing that will save us, it can still be uncomfortable thinking about standing or bowing before God in judgment, waiting for our eternal sentence. 

Malachi 4:1-4 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire.” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or branch will be left to them. But for you who will revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things.” Says the Lord Almighty.” Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all of Israel. (Exodus references St. Sinai as the location Moses received the Ten Commandments) Some say they are the same mountain. Regardless, these are the “commands” of the Lord. Inscribed on the tablet was not His wish list, guidelines, or hopeful desires, but his COMMANDS!   On that day, when we have to answer to only Him, what will it be like?          “I Can Only Imagine.” 

"I Can Only Imagine" By: Mercy Me

Read Malachi 3 and 4

Listen to Malahi 3 and 4