Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Joyful Expectation of Christ's Coming


Mathew Lukose
Epiphany MTC, NY

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 parents spare their children who serve them. 


In today’s bible portion, we see reference to the first and second coming of Christ: God has fixed the day of both. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of Righteousness, believers are justified and sanctified. His sacrifice on the cross render the sinner holy, joyful and fruitful.

In the book of Malachi we can follow two kinds of people: (a) Godly and (b) Ungodly (Mal 3:16). God will watch out for His own, and the faithful will be joined with Him. Now let us look at some of the characteristics of the Godly people.

  1. Fear the Lord: They hold God in awe and worship Him as Lord Almighty. They have a healthy respect for God, and fear to displease Him.
  2. Fellowship: (vs 16a) Godly people have fellowship with each other. They meet together not to complain or gossip, but to encourage and edify each other. Godly people get together for worship and fellowship;
  3. Meditate on the Lord: (vs 16b) Faithful take time each day to meditate, think and reflect upon the Lord, His Grace, goodness, Love, and His mercy;
  4. Serve the Lord:  The last part of verse 18 gives us a description of the righteous and the wicked. The righteous are the ones who serve God. Do you serve God?
  5. Love the Lord: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all with your mind and with all your strength”. (Mark 12:30)
When we travel on a road, the most important questions are: where will this road take me? What is the ultimate destination? Well, you can walk with the ungodly of this world and follow them. That seems to be a well- traveled road.  But when we look at Mal 4:1 we can see that “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. Based on the description of the righteous here in Malachi, can you truthfully say that you are with the Godly?  

PRAYER

Oh Lord, help us to evaluate our life and prepare ourselves for your promised arrival. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Are you expecting the joyful arrival of our Savior?

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