They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day when I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. (Malachi 3:17 NABRE)
We should all try to be on the real Nice List. We should avoid the Naughty List.
Today's verse from Malachi (the final book of the Old Testament, written about 400-500 years before Jesus and not long after the Jews returned to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon), is a reaction to the culture that had arisen among God's people which had largely come to disregarded their covenant with God (in Exodus 19, the one Moses put in place).*
Believers had begun to lose faith, to give up in the face of pop culture. It was not too different from our world today.
In the previous verse (Malachi 3:16), we're told about God's record book, after which I am certain Santa's famous lists are modeled: The list of God's faithful people. This list is also mentioned way back in Exodus 32:32 and I also see alignment with the Last Judgment found in Matthew 25:31-46 (though that is another discussion).
Let's call them the sheep and the goats. So we'll understand, Malachi gives us some description of the sheep:
- Those who fear the Lord
- Those who esteem his name
- The Lord's own special possession
- The Lord's sons
- The just
- The person who serves God
- Those who fear the name of the Lord
Malachi also gives us a picture of the goats:
- The arrogant
- The evildoer
- The wicked
- The person who does not serve God
Lord, help me to be one of the sheep, find me among your faithful people, so that on that day when you take action I may know your compassion rather than your justice. Show me, Lord, how to serve you and how to treat others.
Today, I will re-confirm my faith in God, with respect and esteem for his name; I will seek to serve God by serving others, and I will hope for the day when I might be counted among God's faithful.
Saint James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, Apostle, pray for us.
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