God, the unchanging fire: One Year Bible Reading for December 31

 Today we read from these verses in this, the last reading from the One Year Bible this year:

Malachi 3:1-4:6
Revelation 22:1-21
Psalm 150:1-6
Proverbs 31:25-31

And we're looking at Malachi. This excerpt really ties the Old and New Testaments together well, and it also ends our readings for the year very aptly. 

Malachi reminds us that God is unchanging. God says (through Malachi), "I the LORD do not change." So that reminds us of a theme I've been repeating throughout the year - it's a mistake to think that God in the Old Testament was mean and harsh while God (especially as Jesus) in the New Testament was all about love. God doesn't change. He's all about love and forgiveness in the Old Testament. AND He's all about holiness and is hard on sin in the New Testament.

And that brings us to the other aspect - God is a purifying fire. But He is also a fire that doesn't change. What that means is He burns up the things in our lives that don't stand the test of eternity. He burns up the sin, in other words. And that burning heat is produced by His immense love. But it's unchanging - like the fire in the burning bush that Moses could see but which DID NOT CONSUME THE BUSH. The fire doesn't destroy us - it purifies us. It makes us more like Him.

God, thanks for being an unchanging, purifying fire of love in our lives.

And I'll see you guys next year! Remember, I'll be doing TikToks on blogs I've previously written on the One Year Bible Readings, but I'll also be starting a new series of blogs and TikToks on Seneca and his philosophy. See you there!