Today's Reading:O.T. - Malachi 1 - 2
N.T. - 1 Peter 2:1-12
Focus Verses: Malachi 2:4-8
4 And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue," says the LORD Almighty. 5 "My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. 7 "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. 8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi," says the LORD Almighty.
Insight:
The priests of Malachi's time had become corrupt and they caused the people they served to stumble. They had broken the covenant and violated the relationship God had established with them when the priesthood was inaugurated in the time of Moses. Rather than teaching truth, working for peace, and living with integrity, the priests were selfish, shallow, and deceitful.
Response and Action:
The Apostle Peter tells Christians that they are to be a holy priesthood who offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Our lives are to be a testimony of righteousness. We are to declare the praises of God who has called us out of darkness. Truth, peace, integrity, light, and good deeds should be marks of all who follow Christ Jesus.
O God, help me to live for you and through you in thought, word, and deed. By your power and grace, help me to live with integrity, to be a testimony of your saving love, to be a witness to your love and mercy, to say the words and to do the works that honor you and fulfill your purpose and calling for my life. Amen.
Proverbs: 1:7
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
Resources:
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology
by Eugene Peterson
