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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, February 18, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Fourth Directive (Commandment) Eternal One: Bible Verse:Exodus 20:8-11 (The Voice) "You and your family are to remember the Sabbath Day; set it apart, and keep it holy. You have six days to do all your work, but the seventh day is to be different; it is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. Keep it holy by not doing any work — not you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, or any outsiders living among you. For the Eternal made the heavens above, the earth below, the seas, and all the creatures in them in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He rested. That is why He blessed the Sabbath Day and made it sacred." Message:
The Voice
The Voice, published in 2011-2012, is one of the more successful new translations meant to present the Bible in modern vernacular, to make it more accessible to the 21st century reader. It emphasizes the storytelling aspect of the Bible. Perhaps its oddest formatting choice is that dialogue is punctuated as if it is a screenplay. Thus, today's passage has the name of the character (God, whom The Voice calls "Eternal One" in this passage) followed by a colon, and then the quote without quotation marks. It also calls the commandments "directives"; this may not be a great choice of words, but actually, neither was "commandments".
The Sabbath
Since we have just had long discussions about keeping the Sabbath (see March 18, March 21), we don't need to cover the same ground here. Suffice it to say, few of us make even a really good-faith effort to follow the spirit of this "directive". We allow secular society undermine our obedience to God; it is the path of least resistance. Are we out of milk? I'll just run to the store real quick.
We have a very different attitude about, say, committing murder. And yet, the commandment to keep the Sabbath came before the commandment not to kill or steal or commit adultery; and not just higher up in the Ten Commandments. God imposed the obligation on the Israelites by force, long before they reached Mount Sinai. Exodus 16:22-30 We might well conclude that God's priorities are different than those of the secular society we live in; who knows God's mind? He might take as much umbrage at a person going into the office on Sunday as He does at a person committing murder. The idea sounds as shocking and unlikely to me as it does to you; but at the very least, we must realize that the commandment is written in clear and unambiguous language, repeatedly, throughout the Bible. God means us to take it seriously.
The Hebrews certainly followed the commandment with extreme particularity (and some still do). It is our chance to show God that we sincerely love Him "with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind." Do we love God more than our lawn? Then why do we mow the grass on Sunday? Do we love God more than our car? Then why do we wash our car on Sunday?
Right now, while the subject is fresh in our mind, is a good chance to make a resolution on this subject. Am I going to live in faith, or am I going to live in convenience? For when we begin to refuse to do things on Sunday (or the Sabbath, either one will do) that conflict with this very central commandment from God, we cannot help but increase our life in the Spirit.
Meditation : Prayer : Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you direct my way unto you, and make me and all of us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end that we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.......Amen |
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