Malachi - More to Come

We've all heard of it, Malachi. Mah la CHI as some may say. It's that last little book in the Old Testament, just a few short pages and chapters, words of a prophet then -

SILENCE

nothing more for 400 years until the New Testament came along, brought Jesus with it, and our lives would never be the same again.

Malachi is a great chapter for me to be reading right now, because it strikes me at my greatest and most profound sin - mediocracy. Being settled, comfortable with where I'm at brings with it a certain amount of pain and some joy, too. It's not the easiest, nor the best, but hey- it's comfortable.

What then becomes of me is a sluggard, a spiritual couch potato. Picture fat middle aged man sitting on a couch, wearing the A-Frame (read: wife beater undershirt). He's unshaven, potato chip crumbs on his chest while he slouches, remote control in hand with his arm draped over the side of the couch. The man flips through the channels, time passes. Admittedly he does become bored at times. He knows he *could* go for a walk, call a friend, or perhaps take a trip out of town, the man chooses not to.

Spiritually, I am that man right now. I confess it, in all the ugliness it entails. I need to become more spiritually disciplined, and intend to do so through the following:

1. Regular quiet time: I intend to get up at (don't laugh) 5:00 a.m. each day to pray, read the Bible, and do devotions. I successfully did this for the first time, this morning!
2. Re-think prayer: I am reading the book "Prayer" by Richard Foster in order to grow in this area.
3. Bible Study: I will be meeting with several men to go through the book "The Complete Husband" by Lou Priolo to gain more understanding of how to love and honor my wife.
4. Scripture Memorization: I want to go through the scripture memorization list that our students go through, in order. I will start with 1 John 1:5-10 (NIV).

Anyways, back to Malachi. There are eight questions we ask of God, and he gives his response. As I learn more of them, I will outline them here in the blog. The eight questions are:

1. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' (1:2)
2. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' (1:6)
3. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' (1:7)
4. You ask, "Why?" (2:14)
5. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. (2:17)
6. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' (3:7)
7. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' (3:8)
8. "Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' (3:13)

More to come soon. Read the book of Malachi for more information until then. Leave comments if you would like!