Turned Hearts

Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6

THE STORY THAT BEGAN in Genesis 1 with God’s repeated blessing of all that he had made ends here in Malachi 4 with God threatening to “come and strike the land with a curse.” Yet couched in the threat is a promise. In the very last verse of the very last book of the Old Testament, we find an enormous dose of gospel hope specifically for parents.

God promised his people that he was going to send someone who would preach his Word before the Messiah came. As a result of this prophet’s ministry, many parents and children would turn toward God. With their faith renewed, they would turn toward one another as well. Reconciliation with God would result in reconciliation between generations. Repentance would lead to healing for whole families.

Four hundred years later an angel appeared to a priest named Zechariah in the Temple in Jerusalem and told him that his wife was going to have a son whom they should name John. “He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly” (Luke 1:17).

Just as the Spirit worked through his prophet John the Baptist to do a work in the hearts of parents and children in his day, the Spirit is still at work in the lives of hard-hearted parents and hard-hearted kids to soften and turn their hearts toward one another. The power of God’s grace is the hope of every parent and child longing for reconciliation and relationship.

Father, you have turned your heart toward me in Jesus Christ. Your grace at work in me is turning my heart toward my parents so that my desire to honor them as you’ve commanded is growing. And your grace is turning my heart toward ________, confident that your grace is at work in ________’s heart too.