Hey there, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading titled Frolicking in Freedom was written by Lisa M. Samra.

A third-generation farmer, Jim, was so moved when he read in Malachi 4, You who revere my name,

will go out and frolic like well-fed calves that he prayed to receive Jesus' offer of eternal

life. Vividly recalling his own calves leaps of excitement after exiting their confined stalls at high

speed, Jim finally understood God's

promise of true freedom. Jim's daughter told me this story because we'd been discussing the imagery

in Malachi 4, where the prophet made a distinction between those who revered God's name or

remained faithful to him and those who only trusted in

themselves. The prophet was encouraging the Israelites to follow God at a time when so many,

including the religious leaders, disregarded God and his standards for faithful living.

Malachi called the people to live faithfully because of a coming time when God would make the

final distinction between these two groups.

In this context, Malachi used the unexpected imagery of a frolicking calf to describe the

unspeakable joy that the faithful group will experience when the

Son of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this

promise, bringing the good news that true freedom is available to all people. And one day, in God's renewed and restored creation,

we'll experience this freedom fully.

What indescribable joy it will be to frolic there.

Today's our daily bread devotional Scripture reading is from Malachi chapter 4 verses 1 through 3.

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.

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