“’They will be my people,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ‘On the day when I act in judgement, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.’”
- Malachi 3:17-18
We have nearly made it a full year, and I’m so happy with how On Beautiful Feet has turned out. The best part it, this last devotional of 2020 is the not the end of On Beautiful Feet. I have some big plans for 2021 as I continue to try to encourage you in faith to share the Good News and proclaim the Peace of the Gospel. You may have already noticed the website has been revamped and easier to navigate. In 2021, I still plan to write a weekly devotional. Come summer, I plan to also write an article every other week that covers some belief of Christianity in attempt to come to grips with what I actually believe. And there may be more to come from there! So, thank you for joining me in this journey!
Without further a due, it’s the Christmas Season! It’s the time we tell tales about Santa, spend time with family, and exchanges expensive gifts with others. Well, at least that is the American version of Christmas. But in the Kingdom of God, Christmas is meant to be something entirely different. While it may not look like it, the above verses in Malachi are core to Christmas.
The Meaning of Christmas:
If I were to boil Christmas down in the simplest way possible, Christmas is all about Christ. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. But what does that even mean to have an entire holiday about Christ, and what exactly about Christ makes Christmas so special in light of our verses in Malachi.
Simply this… Christmas is the time we focus on Christ, the Son of God, coming into human flesh, to live a human life, as the eventual sacrifice for our sins, so that we may all be adopted into the household of God. Got it? Jesus incarnated, for our redemption, so we may be adopted.
The Day to Come:
This is vital because sometime in the future, God, who is good, just, and merciful, will come to judge the righteous and the wicked. This is not about who has lived a “good” life and those who lived a “bad” life, that oversimplifies that day. No, God is going to filter through those who continue to rebel against Him and His love and those who willingly receive and enter His presence and love. There will be faulty revolutionaries and there will be obedient children of God.
This division is not for the sole benefit of the persons being adopted, but this is actually to the benefit of God first, and we get to reap the benefits. Those who are judged obedient children, are God’s special treasure, those He takes great delight in.
God’s People:
God desires a righteous and obedient people, that are solely His and they belong to nothing else. This is not possessive, but this is actually instilling the purpose we were always meant to have. Possessiveness would have resulted in no wicked people at all and a God who could not act graciously to rebellion. Instead, God has called us back to Him, offering opportunity to live our best lives in relationship with Him for eternity.
He revealed this when He called out to Abraham, Moses, and David. These were pinnacle leaders who were meant to get Israel on a right track to be God’s people, and eventually that offer would go out to the whole world. In fact, since the days of Abraham, that offer was going to be made to the world.
The issue was that often Israel would divert from their path of obedient righteousness and pursue worldly ways of being. They wanted to be like all the nations around them and worshipped, celebrated, and lived just like them, in rebellion against God. Christmas is the day we see God begin to establish a new people, a people who follow after His Son. A people whose sins and rebellions are covered by the blood of the Son. Christ establishes a new Kingdom people, who are not bound to any land, government, or system, but our bound only by their faith in the Son.
A Different People:
Because of all that Christ did, from Christmas to Easter to Pentecost, the obedient can be a different people. A people not bound to the things of this world but are bound to the heavenly household of God. That is why Christians need to be a different people. We must be weary to be considered conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, or even as father, mother, son, daughter, and baby. We have new roles, ways of thinking, and above all a hope in a heavenly treasure that is eternal life with God.
The key difference between worldly ways of thinking and the Christian way of thinking is that the former is always temporary and short sighted and striving for some kind of “gain” in this world, but the latter is always eternal and forward thinking that seeks after the present presence of God. On this Christmas, may we remember that we are different.
Final Blessing:
At the close of this year, and as we celebrate Christmas, may we have an eternal and forward-thinking outlook. May we seek after the presence of Christ in our lives and be a little different. We have a sole Lord that we are called to be obedient to, and to turn any other way or to have any other lord, means a rebellion against God. The birth of Jesus helped make it possible to be adopted into God’s household and to truly live obediently.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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