Malachi 3:17-18 (NRSV)
Read Malachi 3:17-18 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17They 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. Verse 18Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Devotion
Love caused your incarnation;
love brought you down to me.
Your thirst for my salvation
procured my liberty.
Oh, love beyond all telling,
that led you to embrace
in love, all love excelling,
our lost and fallen race.—O Lord How Shall I Meet You, ELW 241
Stanza 3 of our hymn makes a bold claim: "Love caused your incarnation; love brought you down to me." These words catch our attention. We are promised that God's primary activity is love. People in Malachi's day, in the hard years of rebuilding following the exile, questioned whether God really loved them. The prophet assured them of God's care and affection: "I have loved you." But still the people wondered: "How have you loved us?" Show us (Malachi 1:2)!
Aren't there times when we ask the same thing? Prayers seem to go nowhere, troubles linger, we long for God to come and make the world right. God's word through Malachi is meant to lift our sagging spirits: "On the day when I act, I will spare them as parents spare their children ... " (Malachi 3:17). In the midst of questions and doubts, we put our trust in God's enduring love.
Prayer
God our parent, thank you for promising to love us always. Help us to trust in your promise to come to us. Amen.