THE GREATEST NAME

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to Me, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

“For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.”

Malachi 1:11, 14b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

So far in Malachi, we have seen the Lord first remind His people that they were beloved, going back to the origins of the nation and the man it was named after to illustrate.

This was followed by the Lord calling out His people for their sinful worship practices, particularly the priests who were bringing inappropriate sacrifices to offer to the Lord in direct violation of His law.

Two devotions with themes on both extremes of the Lord’s favor scale but they had one thing in common. In both instances, God was in charge and calling the shots.

After all He was the Lord God Almighty and as we see in our final verses from Malachi 1, the Lord takes the time to remind His people of His authority and where they stand in reference to it. Look again at these words here:

My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to Me, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

“For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.”  Malachi 1:11, 14b

I find it very interesting that the Lord would say the words “will be great” regarding His name. I say this because His name had been the greatest name since the dawn of all creation because the name of the Lord was where all things got started. He and He alone was the Creator of all living things in the heavens and on the earth.

No one else did that or was capable of doing it except the Lord.

Indeed, this elevated the Lord (and still elevates Him) above all the nations for if it had not been for the work of the Lord’s hands, nations would have never existed in the first place. As we read in the scriptures, all nations would see the Lord for the great King of kings that He was, no matter where those nations were in the world. Further, those nations would honor Him with their best, especially when it come to worship when they would bring their pure offerings to Him, a scene in sharp contrast to the wicked offering of defiled sacrifices we saw elsewhere in this chapter.

Why the change of heart toward obedience to the law and proper display of respect to the Lord?

Because the nations, in seeing God for who He truly was and who they truly were in His presence, would treat the great name of the Lord, the greatest name, with the reverence and honor it was warranted.

Today, this Lord still reigns and rules over us. His name remains the greatest name, the name that is above all other names. He is still the Lord over all the nations of the world, the Supreme Leader of all creation, and He still expects all people to bring Him their best as an offering and symbol of respect and esteem, whether it be their time, talents, or treasures.

This all leads to one very important closing question:

How are you honoring the Lord’s name, the greatest name of all, with your life today?

It’s something all believers should be consistently assessing.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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