Today's readings are Malachi 1.1-14 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Mal.+1.1-14 ) and Matthew 3.1-17 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Matt.+3.1-17 ).
Look at the force of God's condemnation of our attitudes in Malachi 1. Lest we look at the people of Malachi's time and think too highly of ourselves, let us slow down to let the power of God's word work in our hearts. Have we distrusted God? Have we despised what he has called good? Have we taken the things of God and considered them common or even worthless? Have we approached confessions, Scripture reading, prayers, and God's blessing as mere routines?
May the Lord have mercy on us. Let us thank the Lord together that he pours out the crushing power of his holiness and his demands for perfect obedience upon us. Let us thank the Lord that he shows us our sin so we can see our need for a savior. Let us rejoice that Christ has come to keep the demands of God's Law, to deliver us from the kingdom of this world into his kingdom, and to create a new heart of faith in us. Jesus, the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, has come to be with us. He has used his servants to baptize us into his name. He hmself judges all unrighteousness and condemns it, bearing it on his own person so we will not have to bear that judgment. Indeed we serve a mighty and merciful savior.
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