Malachi 3 1-4 v v2 “1 the Lord silence you, Satan! I, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, silence you! Isn’t this man like a burning log snatched from a fire?”
In this passage Joshua, who is wearing filthy clothes, is standing by “The messenger” Satan is also there ready to accuse Joshua. God shows that he is stronger than Satan as He silences him. The messenger takes away Joshua’s filthy clothes and takes away his sins.
No one is perfect, however hard we try to be the perfect person there is always Satan standing next to us ready to say, that wasn’t right. Joshua was a good man, but he came to God in filthy clothes. Obvious by how he looked at not being perfect. And what of the burning log illustration? I love to be outside especially in the spring and summer with a fire to burn away the remains of the winter cold or to enjoy a warm summer evening. My husband likes to work with wood and there is always plenty to burn. However, I also like to use the smaller pieces that he thinks are scrap to make blocks for our grandchildren or reclaim older wood for a shelf. This is what I think about with the image of a burning log snatched from the fire. Something was thought of as scrap, ready to be burned but was snatched back maybe with the ends singed and glowing to be made into something new. With God everyone is important, even a log of wood destined to be burned. Jesus came to take away our sins, remove our filthy clothes and give us new clean ones.
Prayer: Mighty Father, thank you for the promise of new clean clothes. That you will silence the voice of the accuser Satan, and take away the bad things we have done. Amen
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