Daily devotional: The notebook

Daily devotional, January 5, 2024
The Notebook

"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done." Rev 20:12

One of my all-time favorite movies is “The Notebook.” It is based on a novel written by Nicholas Sparks. The tearjerker was entitled as such because in the film, an elderly man was reading an old love story written on a notebook.

A well-known Bible character who also recorded notes was Moses. He recorded the Ten Commandments, took note of their journey from Egypt to the threshold of the Promised Land, and in effect authored the first five books of the Old Testament. 

“Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places.” Numbers 33:2

If there is one thing, we present day people can learn about Moses’ note taking habit, it is his intentional resolve to edit out unneeded details of the story. He no longer recorded non-essential things that weighed him down and just took note of joyful and positive memories.

“And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.” Numbers 33:9

In the above passage, Bible commentators pointed out that Moses no longer included the Israelites’ grumbling in the wilderness. However he noted the refreshing stops in their journey towards Canaan. Such attitude is consistent with the Lord’s character of forgetting about the sins He has previously pardoned.

"Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back." 
Isaiah 38:17

And as we continue with our Christian walk, we should continue focusing on growing in Christ-likeness. That by journeying with our Lord Jesus, we can be assured that our names will be noted in the Book of Remembrance.

"Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of  remembrance was written before him of those who feared the  LORD and esteemed his name.  “They shall be mine, says the  LORD of hosts, in the day whenI make up my treasured possession, and I will spare  them as a man spares  his  son who serves him. Then once more you shall see  the distinction between the  righteous and the wicked,  between one who serves God and one who does not serve him." Malachi 3:16-18

In the above passage, we can rest on the thought that as we strive to uphold righteousness in our lives, our Lord takes note of our efforts. 
And  to remain on the right track to eternal life, we should note in the journals of our heart, the words of our God Almighty.

"Great peace have those who  love your law; nothing can make them   stumble." Psalms 119:165

Let us continue abiding by the Lord and taking comfort, that at the end of our lives our names will be written in that one book that will separate those who will spend eternity with the Lord and those who will perish in the lake of fire.

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 119:33-40 and Revelation 20:11-15 to dig deeper on today’s topic. 

Reflection question: Can you take confort in knowing that your name is written in the Book of Life?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for being merciful and taling note of all our efforts to grow in Christlikeness. Please allow me to stay faithful to you so that my name could be found in your books. Amen.