Malachi 3:16: “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, / And the LORD listened and heard them; / So a book of remembrance was written before Him / For those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.”

December 28th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This verse suggests that whenever someone speaks about God, He is careful to listen. This assures us that every single time we witness about God or share something we have learned about Him with others, we can be sure He listens and writes it in a book of remembrance. Someone might be temped to think, “Does God write it down so He won’t forget it like we do?” God does not forget anything He desires to remember, so He must be writing it down for another reason.

Not long ago I noticed mine and my wife’s wedding album full of pictures from our wedding decades ago. I sat down and looked through it again, not because I had forgotten what happened that day, but because I enjoyed it so much. I love sitting down and enjoying it once again. We can safely assume that God’s book serves to accomplish the same thing. These are pleasant memories the Lord desires to save, like picture books of family gatherings. In fact, we may even suggest that our heavenly Father is compiling a huge scrapbook of all the times we have spoken about Him, or spoken for Him, or spoken to Him. Perhaps when we are in eternity, He might say, “I want to show you something. Remember when you shared with those people back in 2012 about My love?” And then He will sit down with us and look through our book.

How full will our pages be? A friend of mine from high school was greatly disappointed when we received our school year books and his name and picture were missing. Somehow, someone who was supposed to be responsible made a mistake that could not be repaired. My friend’s name and picture were completely overlooked and there was nothing that could be done about it. But when it comes to eternity, there is something that can be done for those still breathing on this side of heaven. As D.L. Moody said about the thief on the cross:

The thief had nails through both hands, so that he could not work; and a nail through each foot, so that he could not run errands for the Lord: he could not lift a hand or a foot toward his salvation: and yet Christ offered him the gift of God, and he took it. He threw him a passport, and took him with Him into Paradise.

Even if it is the last minute, one only needs to cry out to the Lord for forgiveness and God will answer with eternal life.

“LORD, thank You for the gift of eternal life and help us to lead others to You this day, in Jesus name.”