Have you ever tried to read through the Bible in a year? It is not only a great discipline, but something that has practical implications in your relationship with God. The program I am using, called The Bible Recap is chronological but noteworthy because the host always calls out where she sees God working in the reading of the day.
One of the blessings of this is being able to see more clearly God’s overarching plan for his creation since you are reading through it in such a compressed period of time. You are not reading a story here, a history there – but rather seeing the connective tissue that holds the plan of redemption together.
The last book of the Old Testament is by the prophet Malachi – speaking once more to Israel before a period of silence that lasted hundreds of years. It is a popular passage for stewardship purposes, but I want to focus on verses
3:17-18, after that.
17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Especially now, in the midst of much political division, remember that we are God’s treasured possession. That’s what should motivate us to change our priorities and to give back to Him in terms of time, talent and treasure. God is in control of all the temporary uncertainty that we face, regardless of who is in the Oval Office. By trusting in Him, and reorienting our priorities, and sacrificing some of what we have been given, we will truly help others see that distinction between the righteous and the wicked. May it be so in all of our lives!
—Mike Tomashewski,
Stewardship Team