A brief look at Malachi

Well I’m still at the Relay 2 Conference but there has been bombarded with so much great teaching that I felt I had to blogify some of it so I could articulate my thoughts and pass them on to dear friends.

We have been studying the book of Malachi (a book I’ve often read but just skimmed over).  I have to admit it was difficult for me to grasp the meaning of what was being said in Malachi when I first read through it, however, having wrestled with it a bit I’ve come to a deep realisation that God is calling his people to be faithful to Him, to worship him wholeheartedly and to trust in his promise of one who will come to refine our lives (Jesus).

Our God is a loving God, a jealous God, a just God, an awesome God who holds his created universe in his hand and he holds us close to his heart.  Yet we often forget him, ignore him and even reject him.  We don’t follow his rule and reign and instead we worship something else or our selves. 

This was the problem with Israel in the day of Malachi.  We’ve only worked our way to the 3rd chapter so I don’t want to give anything away, but it is clear that by ourselves we cannot achieve a righteousness worthy of God.  We need the one that is sent by God, the one who is God, the one who is the “pure offering” and the “refiner” of our lives so that we may be acceptable to God. 

Thankfully that person, Jesus, has come and has offered us the gift of grace through his death on the cross, so that we might be forgiven and refined by the power of the Holy Spirit.  I’ve really been challenged that I need to remain faithful to God in every aspect of my life.  God rebukes the Israelites in respect to their faithlessness to their wives, and this has given me a clear picture of what being faithful to God really is.  I’ve been thinking about it this way, I love my wife with all my heart but I dare say there will be times in my life when something else looks/feels more appealing than her.  Being faithful means not falling into that temptation but turning away from it and back to the one I love.  And so it is the same with God.  There will be times when something in my life seems more important or relevant than God but I need to look at God and his awesomeness and see what he has done for me and take an overwhelming sense of pleasure in that and therefore forget about the other stuff.  By constantly looking at God’s greatness I will be faithful to him because I delight in him.

I’m not presuming this will be easy and I expect that I will fail countless times at it.  That is why my life has to be a life of constant repentance, as I gaze into the brilliance of the grace he has given to each of us.