Thursday, March 31, 2016

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.”’

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 is married to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of the Peace Team at Oakwood and also co-leads an on-site small group.