Malachi 3:16 (ESV)
Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid
attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of
those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.
The Israelites were complaining. They were asking what value there was in
following God. If God didn’t fix their problems, make life easy, and punish
their enemies then what’s the point? The truth is, I hear that argument often
even today. The Enemy whispers it in my ear when things get hard. Friends who
walk away from the Faith echo this argument. People facing difficulties in life
wrestle with this lie. If God isn’t going to make life easier for me then what’s
the point?
But that is the problem, isn’t it? We are looking at the short-term conditions
and God is looking at the long-term conditions. His answer begins in verse 16
and runs through verse 18. God has written all of this in his “book of remembrance.”
In Esther the king had written down Mordecai’s earlier actions to save the
king. In the short-term there had been no real reward, but in the long-term the
fact that it was written down in the king’s book of remembrance set the stage
for Israel’s protection and Mordecai’s promotion. Revelation 20 reveals that every
unbeliever will stand before the Great White Throne of God and answer for their
actions out of God’s books of remembrance. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 believers
stand before God to be rewarded out of his book of remembrance, for God does
not forget.
If we are serving God and trusting God only for present comfort then we have
missed the point. If you are considering walking away from the Faith because
things are hard, let me remind you of two truths. First, things won’t be any
easier without God than they are with him. Second, your perspective is too
shortsighted. Like a nearly blind individual who can’t see anything beyond a
foot or two in front of his face, you have forgotten that which is beyond what
you can see. There is coming a day, for God says, “in the day when I make up my
treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves
him” (Mal. 3:17). Don’t look at what is right in front of you. Look to that day,
and your present experience will come into focus as well.
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