For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.

There is a devotional book that I love, Jesus Today by Sarah Young. She personalizes Scripture verses as though Jesus Himself was speaking them to you; and the words italicized are from Scripture. And today’s entry: ” I want you to love Me, listen to My voice, and hold fast to Me – for I am your Life. This is the way of wisdom. I am training you to stay close to Me as you walk along perilous paths. In any close relationship, listening and loving are vitally important – and they are interconnected. Listen to Me as I rejoice over you with gladness and quiet you with My Love. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive My glorious Love in full measure. This will dramatically increase your love for Me. The world is full of dangers, so it is wise to hold tightly to My hand. Listen – through My Spirit and My Word – while I talk you through tough times. Pour out your heart to Me, remembering that I am your Refuge. As you stay in dialogue with Me, I help you handle whatever is before you. Hold fast to Me, beloved, for I am your Life.”

And reading our chapter, Malachi 2, remember the Scripture verse cited above in Hebrews is given to show us how very close Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is to us. Because in this chapter, He is showing the priests who should have known Him, how far they have turned away from Him. A rebuke meant to wake them up. We can spend our lives oblivious to God and forget what is most important. “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor My name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor Me. Because of you, I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that My covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverance and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found in his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.” v. 1-9. God sees what is real in each of us. We can’t see what sin does to us but to Creator God it’s as though our faces have dung on them. He doesn’t tell that to them or to us to make it harder. It tells us so we can turn to Him and remember that He teaches us for our good. Do not we all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god…Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because He no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made you? You belong to Him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard and do not be unfaithful. You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied Him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” v. 10-11, 13-17. Does God still see what is real and needed in us? Does He only speak to a people long dead? Would that make any sense? And does He still stand ready to help us as we turn back to Him? Yes. And then, Scripture is not just words on a page. There is wisdom for living with Creator God who loves us. He alone shows us what is real and needed and it’s personal for each one of us. He is here to help us stop hurting one another and being hurt. It begins with realizing our need for Creator God and in reverencing Him – and giving thanks to Him for creating Life and helping us live in the only way that brings blessings for us and all of His children…for that is what is real and so needed. Can we see today? There is no longer a physical temple building in Jerusalem for a reason…Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We can’t honor God with our bodies until we choose God with our whole heart. That’s how we walk with Him and begin needed conversation – us to Him, and Him to us. Imagine the closeness you can have with Creator God! He’s here. Always.