Choosing Not To
“Weary”
By Susan Klein
“You have wearied
the Lord with your words. ‘How have we wearied him?’ you ask. By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the
eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them.”’
Malachi
2:17 (NIV)
Little
is known about the prophet Malachi. Though considered to be one of the “lesser”
or “minor” prophets, he packs a pretty powerful punch in his description of
what was happening in the end of the Old Testament period. Here, God speaks
through Malachi to admonish His people. Malachi informs them that they are
“wearying” the Lord with their dismissive tolerance of sin and their own
wrongful words and practices. He exhorts them to return to God so He can return
to them. Hmm…almost sounds like this could have been written yesterday.
History
seems to have a way of repeating itself. As in Malachi’s time, tolerance of
sinful behavior and the “anything goes” attitude are still the norm. With such
diversity in our culture, everyone seems to decide for themselves what is or
isn’t acceptable behavior. One man’s sin becomes another man’s standard. As
Christ-followers, we must hold every action to Scripture to discern what is
right and what is wrong. God does not look favorably on evil deeds, nor should
we.
Unlike
the people in Malachi’s time, we are not awaiting a Messiah. Jesus has come and
has blessed us with His finishing work on the cross. We’ve been set free from
the bondage of sin, mistakes, and historically repetitious failures, if we choose to follow Him. We also have
the gift of God’s written Word to know for sure what is truth and what is not,
and to learn from the consequences suffered by those who chose wrongly before
us. Romans
15:4 reminds us, “For everything that was written in the past was written
to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope” (NIV). Our hope is in Christ, not in the ever-changing ways
of the world.
As
Christ-followers, let us not become entangled in wrong thinking. Let us be
pleasing to God, as Malachi was, by having His Word “dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom”
(from Colossians
3:16, NIV). Let us choose this day, not to weary our Creator.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Pray for wisdom, guidance of the Holy Spirit,
and discernment of truth and lies.
2. How might you show
love to someone without being “tolerant” of their sin?
FURTHER READING:
Susan enjoys teaching Bible
studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She and her husband
Mark co-lead an on-site small group
studying 1 Corinthians with Oakwood's Wednesday Night Community.
