Book of Remembrance
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Malachi 3:13-4:3
13. "Your words have been stout against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, `How have we spoken against thee?' 14. You have said, `It is vain to serve God. What is the good of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 15. Henceforth we deem the arrogant blessed; evildoers not only prosper but when they put God to the test they escape.'" 16. Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought on his name. 17. "They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18. Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Mal 4:1. "For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. 3. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
There will be a “sorting out” at the end of time! If anyone doubts that, well . . . I feel sorry for them because they are in for a big surprise--and I don’t mean like a surprise birthday party! More than that, God has a really, really, really long memory! He was, after all there before the beginning of time. So we ought not to think that perhaps we’ll “get away” with being less and doing less than we are able, than we should, than we are commanded to do as recipients of God’s grace!
I read these verses to say, “You think you’ve got it tough now? Just you wait! You won’t believe your eyes when the winged solar disk crosses the sky and blesses the righteous. But woe to those condemned to burn in eternity. I used to think about that as being so cruel, so “unloving.” I can remember asking myself how could the God of all love sentence anyone to burn in hell? Well, it’s kind of the way we are as parents, I think. When our children continually disobey, disregarding our warnings, our instructions, our pleadings, eventually we must simply allow them to suffer the consequences! That’s why it is so very important to rear our children properly. With equal doses of love and justice.
Those who heed God’s instructions will be rewarded -- they will “leap like calves turned loose out of the stall.” It may seem as if the “wicked” have all the power now -- the political power, the military power, the financial power -- but that will all be meaningless! The “book of remembrance” does not contain lists of who had money, weapons, power! It has a record of all who served God and their fellow man -- with humility, justice and love. My prayer is that the effort is worth the reward! If we are expected to be like Christ, all is lost! But we certainly should use him as our model.
He is all we need for an example of how to live. Be gentle, kind, humble. Do good. Work for peace and justice. Live your life as if it matters. Because it does! After all, God created us in his image and likeness. We are important to him. He cares about us. He loves us. Sometimes I feel as if I can hardly wait to see him in heaven! But I know the waiting is necessary, so that he can complete his work in me! I guess if that’s the case, I figure I’ll live to be a 350 or so years old--based on my current level of development!
My prayer today is that you rejoice in the fact that your name is written in great book of remembrance. And that you’ll live as if your life matters, because it does!
Mary
