Malachi 3:1-3

Malachi 3:1-3
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's easy to sit back and judge, to remove yourself from the immediate situation and only tell others what you think of the situation or outcome.  It seems like much of social media exists as an ever-accelerating whirlpool that exists to judge others, with the crowds often serving as the judge and swiftly executing jury.  (As an aside, is anyone else considered that society's first impulse seems to be to capture something on video rather than step into the fray and assist?)
  One of the things that's fascinating to me about God is that God is not content to sit outside of the situation and only judge.  Refining is hard work, laborious work -- and yet God partakes, joining in with the effort.  Refining involves heating the subject up until the impurities are burned out -- and so the refiner must be close enough to the fire to judge when that occurs.  In the same way, God enters into our world to save us, and in the process, we see the pain and suffering that Jesus undergoes as a result, because God loves us too much to remain outside.