"My
covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as
an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.
Insights: Yesterday God gave a warning to the
priests of Israel. Today, He reminds
them of the original covenant He established with the Aaronic priests. There were two parts God gave and two parts
the priests gave back to God. Even
though we are living on this side of the cross does not mean these aspects of
the covenant are not found in the New Testament. Let me explain: The first part of the
covenant was that of life. In John 10:10
we are told Jesus came to give us life to the full or abundance. Now this is not a full or abundant life which
is propagated on TBN. This is a life of
fullness found in Christ and an adventure worth living. There will be challenges and obstacles, but
Jesus is right there with us guiding us on the journey and it is a full
trip. The second portion of the covenant
was that of peace. This peace is not
like peace between warring nations. This
is the type of peace Paul wrote about when he said it surpassed understanding
(Philippians 4:7). Jesus tells us in
John 14:27 that He leaves us His peace and that He does not give as the world
does. When He gives a gift, He does not
take it back and the gift does not break.
When we are on this adventure with God and difficult and trying days
fall upon us, we can hold fast to God’s second aspect of His covenant and that
is His peace will be with us in these painful times as well. God then shares with these priests of Malachi’s
day their responsibility for life and peace. First, they were to live in reverence to God. This reverence led to proper acts of
obedience. Because they honored God as
Father, they would desire to serve Him.
Second, they were to live in awe of God.
This awe as we have discussed over the past several weeks is an actual
fear. E. Ray Clendenen helps us
here. He wrote, “As those who know the
Lord, we must realize we live every moment of every day in the immediate
presence of God whose limitless grace is all that protects us from being destroyed
by the boundless conflagration of His righteous wrath. Only a fool could respond with anything but
fear and love, which together should motivate diligent faithfulness and
obedience.” Beloved, hold fast to the
covenant with God.
Questions:
- Are you experiencing all of the pleasures of being in
covenant with the Father?
- Are you complying with your end of the covenant?
Prayer: Father, Your
patient love is so amazing. May I walk
in Your grace and truly experience life and peace. May my life bring reverence and awe to You. Amen.
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