Being a part of the remnant starts with…
1. REMAINING TRUE TO GOD
2. TALKING AND ACTIONS ARE ABOUT AND FOR GOD
Not only was this remnant faithful, but when they got together in their meetings, evidently they didn’t spend all their time gossiping, criticizing, or talking about the weather or sports or current events. i am to testify about God’s blessings & presence. i am to speak of answers to prayer. Which would require me to pray in the first place.
Ever notice how eager someone in love seems to be to talk about the person or thing he or she loves? The fellow who loves football gravitates to those who share his passion for the game and talks about it constantly. The same could be said about politics, camping, or any number of other loves that we have.
But here it says that God’s special treasure, His segula, are those who love to get together to share with each other about the things of God. i have a handful of people whom that happens with. It’s not intended but it happens. i most enjoy those conversations.
How much does Christianity mean to me? Is it real? Has it made a difference in my life? In the way i talk, & how i live?
There was a bridegroom who purchased only one ticket for a honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls? He hands it to his bride and says, “Have a wonderful time!” “But aren’t you going too?” she asks.
“No, I’ve already been to Niagara Falls. So you go, and I’ll see you when you get back.”
I don’t think I need to go any further with that story, because it’s ridiculous. When people have expressed their love and committed their lives to each other in marriage they want to be together, to share all they are with each other.
And in the same way, those who commit their lives to Christ, who become a part of His bride, the church, want to be together and share all they are with each other, too.
3. HONORING HIS NAME
Finally, look at the latter part of verse 16. There it says that God caused a scroll of remembrance to be “written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.”
Not only were these faithful people in awe of the Lord, and eager to share their faith in Him with each other, but they also honored Him by their words and by their actions. i must remembered the mighty acts of God. i am to believe what the prophets of old have said & written about Him.
Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man (ed) that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit at the seat of the scornful. But his (ed’s) delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he (ed) meditates day & night” (Psalm 1:1).
In a speech in Dallas, Texas, Corrie Ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place, said that many times people would approach her and say, “Corrie, what a great faith you have.” She smiled as she told how she would reply to them. “No, it’s what a great God I have.”
And whether it was in the nation of Israel in Malachi’s day, or in America today, it is true that:
my God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, & love. my God is an awesome God!