Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Day #14 Recipe for a Savior

PREHEAT THE OVEN

Day # 14

Malachi 4:5 Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

            “Preheat the oven to _______ degrees.” You can fill in the blank with the temperature. It seems that just about every recipe that uses the oven calls for it to be preheated. I often wondered why this was then I realized that it is because it makes the baking more uniform, keeps the product from being over/under cooked. You don’t want to put your cookies in a cold oven. You need to preheat to…

            Preheat the oven for A Recipe for a Savior. The prophet Malachi is bringing to the recipe the idea that the oven of life needs to be preheated for A Recipe for a Savior to work. “I will send the prophet Elijah before…” Really? How old would Elijah be at this time? Will he come in a fiery chariot just like he went into heaven? Who is this prophet Elijah going to be? “Preheat the oven…” gives us more questions than answers.

            The people of Israel understood, sort of. They waited for the coming of the one in the power and spirit of Elijah. They did not really think that Elijah himself would return. Elijah was a prophet of God that called the people back from their sinful lives. He was not afraid to address king or peasant. When God spoke to him, he would take that message to the people. So all Israel waited for the coming of the one who would be the Elijah of their day. For them, the recipe would start to come together at that time. Elijah was not the Savior. He was just the one who “preheated the oven,” preparing the people for the coming of the Savior.

            We wait as well. Will an Elijah come to our day and age? Will we have one that goes before the people calling them to repent before the Day of the Lord? Actually, no we will not. The Savior has already come, as we remember during this Advent and Christmas season. What do we do with this Elijah? We search the Scriptures to see who this one was in order to know that A Recipe for a Savior is complete.

            Who was the Elijah that went before the day of the Lord? Who was the one who is like preheating the oven, getting things ready for when the full recipe can begin to bake? That is the question we will answer in the next devotion.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are amazing, beyond what we can ever imagine. You prepared the world for the coming of Your Son. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, open our hearts to Your Word that calls us from our sins. Amen.

Deeper Thought: As you preheat your oven for baking, thing about how the Lord has called you to prepare for Christ’s coming. What stands in the way of your spiritual preparations? How does the Lord call you to “preheat” your heart for His arrival?

1 comment:

  1. What stands in the way in preparing for the Lord? Answer, Myself.
    This has to do with controlling my life, Instead of giving full control to The Lord , I prefer to win control. Although over the past few years I've had to realize that The Heavenly Father is in control. It's a comforting and scary feeling! Unlike preheating an oven and putting food in the oven you know what the end result will be!
    In my life its scary to think 💭 of where I'm going to be ! My Faith tells me I'm going to Heaven! The route in getting there is the scary feeling!

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