Week 34 Malachi 3
There’s a paragraph on religious allegiance near the end of Malachi that’s interesting because I think a lot of times religious people just kind of go along on auto-pilot and don’t even think about quitting. But Israel had come to a bit of an intersection. They were asking: what’s the use of serving God? (the way the question is asked gives me the impression that they figured ‘there’s no use’).
Anyway it’s a pretty good question since people do walk-away (and it’s pretty interesting to me because I wanted to see the reasons for walking). It turned out to be a practical and personal issue: What’s In Religion For Me? (their actual question was: what have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord that we are sorry for our sins?). What have we gained? So it’s a kind of As Long As I Get a Good Tangible Return I’ll Be Faithful.
And there was a secondary concern: people who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them go free of harm. That wasn’t fair. If bad people succeed what’s the point of following the Lord?
Anyway walking away from faith would need a solid reason. And even though I don’t like to see bad people succeed while good people don’t those aren’t good enough reasons to leave the Lord. Not for me. Not by a long shot.
Note: quotes from Malachi 3:14 15 (NLT)