YOU WEARY ME WITH YOUR WORDS!

Related image From the lips of an ole friend, "Talk is cheap!"  This might be descriptive of the 2017 culture, so many words yet with minute commitment and authenticity in behavior.

I enter Malachi in my reading through the Bible.  Malachi is little known in history, but his words have been recorded and repeated several places in the New Testament.  He is the last messenger to Judah and Israel until the coming of John the Baptist after the birth of Jesus.  Malachi ministers around 420 B. C. to the remnant who have returned from the Babylon-Persia captivity.  As I read Malachi, whose name means Messenger, I am reminded of our culture of 2017 rather than 420 B. C.  Descriptives for the culture of 420 B. C.: formalism, self-righteousness, self-satisfaction, shattered personal relationships, offensive and apathetic indifference regarding the Lord God and the Temple, ie, the Body of Christ in our culture.  Malachi is the last of the prophets and he comes to call them to give account of their behaviors.  Several questions are asked by the remnant which are really defensive and argumentative mechanisms:  How have You loved us?  How have we shown contempt for Your name? How have we robbed You? How have we wearied You? How are we to return to You?  Malachi speaks:  "You have wearied the Lord with your words."  Undoubtedly they are a people of quick tweets, glowing uppers and downers on their social media, and no real "meat"/communication using texts!  (Too bad, we have so corrupted the wonderful gifts of technology with abuse of words, broken personal relationships, and no real depth communication.) 

The period between Malachi and the birth of Christ is some 400 years and it is referred to as a "silent period from God".  There came the drought, the famine, of no further word from God.   They wanted to be left alone and they got it!  The Lord continues to cry out as He did in Malachi, "Return to me, and I will return to you."  Will we hear and receive the invitation and actively respond in commitment and action or will we just idly speak words?  Forever learning.  In process.  #IHAVETHREESONS.


 

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