BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE

“Then those who feared the Lord talked often one to another; and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.” (Malachi 3:16 AMP)

A remarkable truth about those who venture to fear the Lord and walk according to His precepts is that there will be opened unto them what is described as a book of remembrance. It is no ordinary book like the many we have carefully placed on our bookshelves. No. The book of remembrance described in the text above is a special book—without any physical characteristics. On it are chronicled instances of the good acts of those who fear God and worship Him.

In the bible, we see instances of God’s interventions in the lives of people on evidence of what is written in their books of remembrance. First, in Esther 6:1 we meet a troubled king as the scripture says: “On that night the king could not sleep; and he ordered that the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.” That night’s research let to Mordecai—and the conclusion was elevation of a lowly man to a place of pride and prestige in the king’s court. All these were as a result of the content of Mordecai’s “book of memorable deeds.” Again, we also see in Acts 10:31 the case of Cornelius, as God avowed: “…Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.” The intercessions and charitable acts of Cornelius populated his heavenly book of remembrance and on this appointed day, a Gentile was brought into the fold of the saved—opening the door for non-Jews like us to share in the inheritance of Salvation.

A third dimension in the instances of God’s interventions is evidenced by the life of a people who populated their book of remembrance with intercessory cries. This was the people of Israel which led to Moses being commanded to go and deliver them from the land of captivity. The bible recorded in Exodus 3:7-8 that God finally realized the sufferings of the people and the desperation of their cries were evident to him. As a result, he sent a deliverer to them. Therefore, for you and I, we must begin to engage in good deeds, alms giving, intercessory prayers that peradventure we may populate our books that when God comes reading and so become blessed.

For us to be candidates of God’s awesome blessings, we must strive to populate our books of remembrance with righteous acts which God Himself will consider and release blessings upon us. Many are busy blotting their book of remembrance with the most despicable acts and so are barred from the blessings that God gives out to those who have done well. The major distinguishing factor between the good and the bad is the content of their books of remembrance. It is therefore imperative for you and I to ensure that we populate our books with the most splendid of testimonies: great acts of exploits for God; genuine demonstrations of love; sacrifice, soul winning, generosity and the like.