root and ashes

Sunday November 17^th, Malachi 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.  We like to think of these types of scripture to be about the other.  The ones who are giving the people of God trouble in their pursuit of happiness.  The message however is meant for you and I, the ones called to be the children of God and who are taking that opportunity to pad our own little nest at the expense of others.  Instead of the root of Jesse, blessed to bring the blessings of God to all of creation, we will simply be fuel for the fire, and an ash heap in the end.  The next time you get ready to point to the other and highlight their wrongs as they apply to you, remember, the reason we are here, the reason we exist, is to bring the good news of God’s grace to others.  If there are failings in life, it is the failing to be the root of Jesse, and to choose ashes instead.