Malachi 4:2,3
‘”But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall. And you will crush the wicked underfoot, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am preparing,” says the LORD of armies.’
Oh, the blessings to the ones who fear Him. They respect Him and know He is all powerful and means what He says. A scary thought if one chooses to ignore Him. Fear is a motivation to listen. It doesn’t stop there. When one seeks and follows the Lord, so many blessings follow.
What are those blessings? Forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God. That would be enough. We are spared hell and promised eternity in Heaven with God. It will be wonderful, but it isn’t hell. The bible says that hell’s torment is forever. That frightened me as a young person. I didn’t want to go to hell. God instilled that in me. I’m thankful for it as it put me on His path from my youth.
The next blessing is adoption as sons and daughters. Romans 8:15,16 says, ‘For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’ We haven’t received a spirit of slavery. That’s what most people think of when it comes to faith, they are slaves. Not so. He is a loving Father who wants to love us and guide us.
His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are children of God. We can feel His presence. Right there with us. Philippians 4:7 describes the sense of His presence in greater detail, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” He gives us His peace. We might not understand the peace we feel, but it’s there and wonderful.
This verse also says, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings”. The word wings could be understood as rays, as in “the sun’s rays”. There is all sorts of healing and I think it means all of them. Psychological, emotional, spiritual, relational and so on. We don’t get that all the time, but very much so. Part of that healing comes from obeying His Word. As we live according to His ways, we are living in the manner we were supposed to. We gain a natural healing that way. Sometimes He just heals us.
Lord, thank You for Your healing. Thank You that You bless those who fear You.