MALACHI 3:15

“‘So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.’”

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between things. Take for instance, identical twins. During my years working in children’s homes and on church staffs, I got to work with several identical twins. Most of them could be distinguished between after I got to know them better. There was one pair, however, that I never was able to tell apart. And, of course, they would use that against me whenever they could, lol.

The Lord is not talking about identifying twins in today’s verse. He is, however, saying that we need to be careful to distinguish between the righteous and wicked. One serves Him and the other doesn’t. Now, mind you, that wicked one may profess to serve God. Watch their actions. See how they compare to Scripture. God knows their hearts and will judge them accordingly.

APPLICATION

There are so many verses in Scripture that show us the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Here are just a few:

Proverbs 13:5 “A righteous person hates a false statement, but a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.”

Proverbs 13:6 “Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness brings the sinner to ruin.”

Proverbs 18:5 “To show partiality to the wicked is not good, nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.”

Matthew 25:46 “‘These (the wicked) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

I think you get the picture. The wicked and the righteous do not belong together. God will separate them in judgment. We must separate ourselves also. Now, I don’t mean we should not reach out to them and try to win them to the Lord. We should. We just can’t live like them. We can just hang out with them and do what they do. We must be holy as He is holy.

Do you know any truly wicked people? I have known a few. In a couple of instances, when that person walked into the room, I felt a chill. Their glances were almost always like darts fired from hell itself. Most people are not wicked. They are just deceived and blinded by the evil one. Pray we can be good laborers in the harvest and bring some of these home.

Father, I praise You that I am counted among the righteous, not for anything I have done but because of Your Son.