Day 4: Malachi 3:5

"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts." ~ Malachi 3:5 KJV

The underlying message of this verse is that if I fear the Lord, then "fear not". God will judge those who do wrong, He will be a "swift witness" or as the Message puts it, He will put "compelling evidence against" evil. For the Jews Malachi is writing to, God is saying He will cleanse Israel of "sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, anyone who is inhospitable to the homeless," ~MSG.

For me, I believe this is a promise of sorts. If we honor God and follow Him, He will protect us from those described - modern-day sorcerers, adulterers, liars etc. Since I fear God, I should "fear not" God's wrath and judgement.

Sometimes it may seem the whole world is out to get you. Everything comes crashing down at once. This might be a bit stretched from the verse's original meaning, but I believe it guarantees that God will protect us from hypocrites and that we should boldly continue doing what's right - even if it's not the easy thing. Why be afraid of people?