Malachi served as a prophet to Israel about four hundred years before the birth of Jesus. He brought a message from God which reminded the people of His love, and rebuked them for their disrespectful worship. But through Malachi, God ended the Old Testament with a prophesy about future restoration.
"I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6
Just over four hundred years later, John the Baptist, "the Elijah who was to come" Matthew 11:14, began to preach a message of repentance, preparing hearts for the coming of Jesus; "Prepare the way for the Lord" Matthew 3:3. He also caused the hearts of fathers and children to turn toward one another.
The moment we lost the ability to walk in perfect harmony with God, we also became filled with self-importance and pride, and lost the ability to truly love one another; "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have {true} fellowship with one another" 1 John 1:7. Walking close to God, through faith in Jesus, allows us to walk close with others; "We love because He first loved us" 1 John 4:19.
God created us to be in fellowship with other people - even imperfect, hard to love people. Our quiet and peaceful times of study and prayer are essential for our Christian walk, but some of God's most important truths can only be learned as we stumble through difficult situations with others. Only there can we learn the difficulty of true grace and forgiveness; only there can some of our own deep sin (like pride, jealousy, and anger) be revealed.
Many relationships are filled with past pain - particularly the relationships between husband and wife, and parent and child - but God's Word still stands as truth. He has provided the path to restoration, a path which begins with repentance, requires the cleansing of sinful pride, and leads to true love and forgiveness.
Full restoration requires the cooperation of both parties; Jesus died as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins in order that we may be reconciled with our Heavenly Father. He crossed ALL the way and completely mended our shattered heart! Let's walk in the light of His love and take the necessary steps to cross over and humbly reconcile with one another.
- steve troxel
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