Life and Peace

Malachi shares the recipe for life and peace today–reverence.  As we close the Old Testament and prepare to dive into the New, Malachi recaps where the Israelites took a wrong turn–their priests left God’s paths, and the nation stumbled in sin.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but think of the last quarter of the year as the Christmas Season, because everything seems to revolve around that–shopping, cooking, traveling–lots of hectic activity.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to look forward to this season next year because of the life and peace we experienced this year?

Malachi tells us that God’s purpose for His people was life and peace, but that it required reverence (a feeling of profound awe and respect and often love–American Heritage Dictionary).  He goes on to describe the lives of the Levites, who

• greatly revered Him
• stood in awe of His name
• passed the truth of His word on to the people
• did not lie or cheat
• walked with Him
• lived good and righteous lives
• turned many from lives of sin

So there you have it–Malachi’s recipe for life and peace.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to serve it up as a wonderful sauce to pour over all of our holiday events this year?

As Malachi described the priests, who were the Levite’s leaders, I was reminded of our responsibility as New Testament priests to bring a lost world to Christ–we are charged with preserving the knowledge of Christ, and people should be able to come to us for instruction as the messengers of God.  Malachi indicted the Levitical priests for

• leaving God’s paths
• giving instruction that caused many to stumble in sin
• corrupting the covenant
• disobedience
• betraying each other

The result was that God made them despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people.  Sound familiar?

How attractive we would be if our lives truly exuded life and peace.

If you’re reading through the Daily Walk Bible, today’s passage is Malachi 1-4.

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