August 5, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?‘” (Malachi 3.14)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Why do we think so little of ourselves? The Apostle Paul said, “Do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought…but consider yourselves by the full measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12.3) So when I ask “Why do we think so little of ourselves,” I am not speaking of pride, hubris and arrogance which so many use to “puff themselves up.” (1 Corinthians 8.1) Such mental posturing would seem to be more like compensation for what is lacking than an inventory for “who one is.” Such vocabulary may actually be speaking about “how little one thinks of himself or herself.” “Puffing up” one’s self is like a mother bird who when protecting one of her young from a predator spreads out her feathers to their greatest fullness to appear larger than she is. Some birds would do the opposite and feign a broken wing so as to draw attention away from the stalked baby bird. They make themselves seem more vulnerable than they are. As I read Malachi 3.14 and hear their posturing of futility, I can’t help but ask, “Why do they think so little of themselves?”

The Lord repeats two statements which have been made by His people in the days of their restoration. The first is “What do we gain by carrying out the Lord’s requirements?” Of course, they are speaking of following the Rules of Righteousness, the Ten Commandments, and the cultural practices as they relate to the communal life of a people in worship and service. They address such things with confining literalism believing that “going through the motions” will result in the peace, prosperity and freedom from the enemies which they desire. They did not take those things to heart. They did not consider how such discipleship would influence their spiritual and social DNA until the patterns of living before God and with God became a natural way of life. That “immediate gratification” ideal which was mentioned in yesterday’s reflection is at play here. The life of faith is not a board game of chance. The life of faith is the building process of mental, emotional, spiritual, social and physical strengthening. As Paul said to the Corinthian community of faith, “Knowledge puffs up; faith builds up.” Such knowledge is the essence of the arrogance which God accused the restored community of being guilty. It would sound and feel like this: entitlement. Just because I do this, this should happen. Worse, because I exist, I should be able to do anything and have anything I want. Look at the rest of the world. They seem to gain great profit and satisfaction without professing Yahweh Elohim as the One True God. They don’t follow the same rules and regulations which are required of the people of Israel and the followers of God’s “way, truth and life.” Yet, they seem to enjoy the worldly benefits that the people of God desire. It just isn’t “fair.”

Of course, the very next step which the people of God were taking after “what good does it do to follow God’s requirements” was “Why do we go about like mourners?” While the practice of “mourning the dead” was integral in the “requirements of God” to show respect and honor for the dead as well as the living, it was not this type of mourning which is mentioned in verse 14. They were speaking of the lamenting for themselves as being denied what everyone else, particularly the unrighteous and unbeliever, was receiving. They had turned their lives into drab counterfeit of “righteousness.” It wasn’t righteousness at all. Instead, it was a complaint against God for His injustice to His own people. I am not sure what they truly believed God was supposed to do. He wasn’t going to reward their unrighteousness. The call to live righteously was upon their lives as descendants of Abraham. The covenant relationship with the One True God was an eternal one. Those who received rewards in this world, though they were unrighteous and did not fear God, only found rewards in this world. In the world which would follow no such rewards would be found. Ever wonder why so many artifacts remain (except for those which have been stolen by looters and grave robbers) in the pyramids and tombs? The dead cannot enjoy what is of the world. Even the pursuit of “eternal life on earth,” do you want to live forever, with some kind of “fountain of youth” was a confession that “you can’t take it with you.” However, those who laid up their treasures in Heaven giving praise to God and serving Him through the generations were going to find a life beyond comparison in Heaven. Stop for a moment and repeat David’s “Shepherd Psalm,” Psalm 23. Imagine it as a description of life in Heaven with the Great Shepherd. While we have other images given of streets of gold, gates of the twelve great gemstones and the presence of God as the eternal tabernacle/temple, it is Psalm 23 which gives us the greatest comfort and assurance. You do not hear the sheep complaining, do you? They are not mourning nor lamenting. Their is nothing false in the innocence of the Lamb. Who better to usher in the Kingdom of Salvation than “the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world.”

Instead of complaining, they and we should be proclaiming. We should put our trust in God knowing this world is not our home when we make our home with God. Is it all really futile? For those who answer “yes,” their eyes are not on the true prize of Heaven. We dare not live for this world but prepare ourselves by proclaiming “His Kingdom come, His Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works which bring others near to Jesus in faith, hope and love. AMEN.