The Line of Separation

June 25

In Malachi 3:13-16, the prophet poses some thoughts that may have perplexed each of us at some time or another. Malachi also gives God’s perspective in the matter.

"’Your words have been harsh against Me,’ says the LORD, ‘yet you say, what have we spoken against You?’"

‘You have said, It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free.’

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.”

We tend to wonder why the Lord allows the godless among us to prosper and we are greatly perplexed when they are in positions of leadership, yet we hold fast to the truth that we know even when confronted with the fact that the age in which we live is growing ever more wicked.

The line of separation between belief and unbelief comes between those who fear the Lord and those who do not reverence Him. The prophet Malachi tells us that the first group feared God, they respected and revered Him, they stood in awe of Him--and their reverence for the Holy One was credited to their spiritual account.

Perhaps the believing group came to their place of faith because they actually thought on His name. They meditated on His name; they esteemed His name. They honored Him. Because His name stands for everything that He is, they allowed His name to be high and lifted up! The people of faith were given the many names of God that define various points of His character and they honored each of them and used them in the proper way.

Additionally, those who reverenced the name of the Holy One had fellowship with one another. Their interaction was not with the people of unbelief but with those of like precious faith. We can imagine that much of their discourse centered around the God who had rescued them from bondage in Egypt and that they extolled His holy name for the great works He had done in their behalf.

Rather than indulge the criticism and complaints uttered by the doubters and scoffers, they focused on the goodness of the Lord and upon His glory. We who believe should follow their example and allow our reflections on the work of God in our lives to be sweet.

May we forsake our complaining and our questioning of His purposes; may we instead focus on the goodness and mercy He has shown in past situations and trust Him to again show Himself strong for us as we show ourselves faithful to Jesus.