Malachi 3: 13-15
“Your words have been hard against me,” says the Lord, “ But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, “It is vain to serve God, What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.”

Ouch! Have you ever felt that way or have you ever said those words? Have you ever gotten to the point where you feel as though you have done all that you feel you were supposed to do and you watched as those who lived how they wanted seemed to prosper while you struggled to the point where you were frustrated and angry? I think we have all at least wondered about that at times.

I know, I know….. we live in the days of grace and God the Father views us through His son, but that doesn’t license us to make light of Jesus death on the cross. We are still to honor God and Jesus by respecting them and how we walk before them. The grace of God is a gift, not something we deserve, we are not “entitled”. God loves us enough to have given His son, He still expects respect and honor, He is a Holy God and we need to be careful to treat Him that way! How would you feel if you gave your child a brand new car one day and up until that point he/she treated you with respect and the honor due a parent, but after you gave them the gift they felt as though they could talk to you any way they pleased and do whatever they wanted because obviously you loved them and they didn’t need to care what they did because you would still love them and do everything for them.

How do you want to feel on that day you stand before Him to answer for how you spent your life? How do you want to feel about the words you have spoken to and about Him?

And then maybe we need to stop and ask ourselves, “why am I serving Him, is it just for His benefits or am I serving Him because I love Him and that is what I am called to do?”

I am not saying you can’t get frustrated or even angry about how things are going in your life, I am saying you need to be careful what words you say. God deserves and demands our respect ~ He is a Holy God! Matthew 12: 26 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” Let’s not get lazy in how we see God. Don’t hide behind His grace so you don’t have to get serious about Him and who He is! God loves you and that is why He has extended His grace, He wants what is best for you ~ that fact alone ought to make us love Him more and desire to please Him and honor Him more, it shouldn’t make us treat Him as though He is one of us.

Let’s all strive today to remember who it is that we serve. Let’s pray that He will burden our hearts with more respect for who He is and how we should live! The best is yet to come!

Quote:
“It’s in the struggle itself that you define yourself.” Pat Buchanan