Monday Reflection \u2013 June 28, 2021 God\u2019s Treasured Possession
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. Malachi 3:17
In the context of today\u2019s Watchword, we discover that God has a super great purpose for his people. God\u2019s ultimate purpose is to make those who are rebels and sinners by nature into jewels, God\u2019s treasured possession. Malachi addresses two types of people, those who are arrogant and those who fear the Lord, both of whom are God\u2019s people. The arrogant people were unhappy with the Lord because he was not measuring up to their expectations. By 430 B.C. Israel was a small province in the backwaters of the Persian empire. The future glory prophesied by Haggai and Zechariah had not been realized, and the people were losing hope. Certain that time was running out for God to come in power to exalt Israel, they began to doubt God\u2019s covenant of grace. They became cynical and totally insensitive, not only about the love of God, but also about their own sin. They began to say it was worthless to serve God, and so their worship became formal, mechanical, and ceremonial, without any demonstration of heart, sincerity nor faith in God\u2019s covenant. Since they believed that God did not care for them, they became disrespectful of God and angry with him. In the midst of all this, God exercised patience and forbearance toward his people.
Happily, not all of God\u2019s people were arrogant. In Malachi 3:16 we read of those who heard the arrogant speech of their brothers: \u201cThen those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.\u201d God was delighted with the conversation of the humble. They demonstrated wisdom by fearing the Lord. We all need the fear of the Lord. Arrogant people are fools, but the godly are those who by faith see God in his word and live in obedience to that word. Their delight is in the law of the Lord. The life of the godly is a deliberately God-conscious life. It is a life ordered by a true consciousness of God. Godly persons seek to order their lives in a way that is pleasing to God.
Malachi notes in today\u2019s Watchword that there are awesome priviledges when we live for the Lord \u2013 we are God\u2019s treasured possession, God\u2019s jewels. This means we are most precious and most beautiful. God has been making us into his jewels for a long time\u2013from all eternity. Admittedly, we were not very promising material. We are by nature wicked sinners, enemies of God. But God says, \u201cI\u2019ll work with them,\u201d and he does. Only God can do this, and he chooses to do it. In eternity God chose us in Christ and predestined us to be conformed to the glorious image of his own Son. For what purpose? So that, in God\u2019s time, we might enjoy fellowship with him and that God might take delight in us. Now, God is sanctifying us, changing us from glory to glory. To do this, there may be times when he puts us in his furnace and applies heat to remove the impurities from us. Just as one refines gold and silver, so God uses trials and tribulations to make us sparkling as jewels, holy and blameless in his sight. The work God has begun in us, he will soon complete. To what end? That without blemish and stain, and full of glory, we shall be brought to glory to live in God\u2019s presence for all eternity. And Oh what a day that will be! God\u2019s treasured possession enjoying the presence and glory of God forever! Hallelujah! Amen!
Jermaine Gibson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monday Reflection \u2013 June 28, 2021 God\u2019s Treasured Possession 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. Malachi\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","watchword_topic":[12],"class_list":["post-511","watchword","type-watchword","status-publish","hentry","watchword_topic-hope"],"yoast_head":"\n