Is serving God really worth it?

In Malachi 3:13-18, God’s people grumble that serving Him is useless — they see no payoff. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt answers a question every believer feels at some point: is faithfulness worth it?

The people complained that the proud and wicked seemed to prosper while the godly gained nothing. Dr. Holt explains that our circumstances are not the measure of God’s love. God keeps a “book of remembrance” of those who fear Him, and He calls them His treasured possession — His “jewels.” One day the difference between those who serve God and those who do not will be plain for all to see, even when it is hidden now.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did the people think serving God was useless? Because they measured God’s love by their circumstances, and the wicked seemed to prosper. They mistook outward comfort for God’s favor.

2. How does God see His faithful people? He calls them His “jewels” — His treasured possession — and records them in a book of remembrance. They are precious to Him even when overlooked by the world.

3. Will the difference between the godly and the wicked ever be clear? Yes. Though it is often hidden now, God promises a day when all will see the difference between those who serve Him and those who do not.

“‘They shall be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’” — Malachi 3:17 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Malachi Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.