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¹The LORD said to Moses, ²“Give the Israelites instructions regarding the LORD’S appointed festivals, the days when all of you will be summoned to worship me.
Leviticus 23:1-2 (NLT)

Imagine! The Israelites worshipped God not only on Sunday, but there were festivals throughout the year – “appointed festivals” – when they set apart time to worship God. I want to live in that society! Sure, we worship God every day…but how many days a year do we set aside to focus solely on Him?

You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day all work must come to a complete stop. It is the LORD’S Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day to assemble for worship. It must be observed wherever you live. 
Leviticus 23:3 (NLT)

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I am a big fan of practicing a Sabbath. I’m a fan…but I don’t do it as well as I’d like. Now before you voice the objection, let me clearly state that I am also not that Sabbath be Saturday, as it is in Judaism. I prefer to call it a Day of Rest (DOR at our house), and in the Christian culture that’s often Sunday. You may call it the Lord’s Day. Call it what you want, and make it whatever day you want, just do it! Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater because we’re no longer under the Law. Scripture is full of injunctions about keeping the Sabbath – and I’m convinced it’s a principle God instituted that remains in effect.

Back to Leviticus 23:3. Words that strike me in this verse…“complete rest,” “worship” and “wherever you live.”

In Exodus 34:1 God instructs the Israelites to observe the Sabbath “even during the plowing season and harvest.”

No matter where you live,

No matter how busy you are…

Complete rest.

Lord, help me. Complete rest. Once a week. Even when my schedule is over-the-top. Help me get better at it, Lord.

I do pretty well with the “worship” part. I sometimes struggle to define “rest”. The word used there generally relates to occupational work and “creation” type work. Remember, the Lord practiced a Sabbath Himself – after creating the world we live in, He rested on the seventh day.

What Counts as “Rest”?
So, what kinds of activities can I be involved in that honor God? I am firmly convinced that visiting family falls within the boundaries of activities that would honor God on the Sabbath…but do they still honor God if they leave me drained? Somehow I don’t think so. So what needs to change – my perspective (so that I’m not so drained by visiting) or my activity (not visiting family on my day of rest)? I’m working on that one. (I mean no disrespect to family with this example – I have to travel an hour or more to visit family and doing so after church just makes for a long day that often tires me out.)

Is writing a blog a violation of the Sabbath? I am both energized and drained by writing blogs – I love hearing from God, but the act of getting the thoughts on paper is hard work. If I can write the blog, can I post it? While writing a blog is often enjoyable, posting it is drudgery.

Is mowing the lawn a violation of the Sabbath? Does it matter whether or not I enjoy mowing the lawn? Is taking a walk in the woods an acceptable activity? Is exercising? Is organizing a room if it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction?

I am not becoming legalistic about this…I understand the principle of staying God-focused and providing rest. I also understand the value of the Sabbath being a full day, not just the hours we spend in church or the day and an afternoon. Whether or not we like to admit it, our bodies were created to need down town. Our brains also work better when rested – and I don’t mean when we get the sleep we need. Our brains work better when they are given a break from thinking about the issues associated with our work, regardless of what that work is. I recognize that everyone’s work is different, so defining what constitutes not working will differ from person to person.

It’s important to recognize, though, that most of us are so un-Sabbath oriented, that our tendency is to violate the concept. I try to combat that by being very conscious of what I’m doing (and not doing) on my Sabbath.

Not only are we un-Sabbath oriented, we are as a culture to me-oriented. For example, a few paragraphs ago, I asked if I could organize a room on the Sabbath “if it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.” Do you hear how me-focused that is? The Sabbath is supposed to be God-focused. It’s not about my accomplishments – actually, it’s supposed to be an anti-accomplishment day! (I’m thinking organizing the room violates the whole Sabbath principle.) God commanded the Sabbath as a blessing for us – a time toget away from our world and enter into His. What a great God He is!

Festivals! More Occasions to Worship God
In addition to the Sabbath, God identified annual festivals:

• Passover
• The Festival of Firstfruits
• The Festival of Harvest
• The Festival of Trumpets
• The Day of Atonement
• The Festival of Shelters (or Booths)

Each of the festivals focused on a different element of God’s goodness. Each involved worshipping God, although in different ways.

What impressed me most about the establishment of the holy days is that they developed a culture of worshipping God in special ways throughout the year. They took the people away from their daily lives to focus on the God who delivered them, who provides for them, the God who forgives them. These festivals were in addition to the practice of the weekly Sabbath.

We have lost that culture. We rush through church to be off doing our own thing. We take vacations (designed to help us “vacate”) instead of setting aside days and weeks throughout the year in which we worship God. I know few people who set aside a day or more during their vacation to celebrate, worship and honor God.

God is most honored by His people honoring Him. In America, I’m afraid we honor our time more – insisting that it be OUR time that we schedule Him into.

I don’t have answers in this blog – just questions about how we ought to live in a way that honors God. We’re not required to keep the festivals God instituted in Leviticus. But I think they reflect an approach to living that keeps God at the forefront of our life, and that requirement remains for all Christians. Lord, challenge us to return to You.

Your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts on my ramblings here. Comment below or on Facebook.

In the meantime…enjoy God!

Is the Book of Leviticus Relevant Today?

After reading the excitement of the books of Genesis and Exodus, we come to a book of regulations and instructions – the change in drama is significant. Leviticus seems boring compared to the two books that precede it. It is, however, part of a natural progression of the same story.

• In Exodus we read about how God had chosen the Israelites as His “treasured possession” and a “nation of priests” (Exodus 19:5-6). The book of Leviticus establishes regulations for the priesthood. .
• In Exodus, the design for the tabernacle was given, it was built and the Lord’s glory filled it. In Leviticus God teaches the Israelites how to minister in the tabernacle.
• In the final chapter of Exodus, the glory of the Lord – His very presence – filled the temple. The book of Leviticus begins with God calling out to Moses from the tabernacle. What follows are instructions to the Israelites about how to live a holy life in and with the presence of God.

Do the instructions, regulations and lessons of Leviticus have relevance for us today? Yes. As I wrote in my previous blog, even when we can’t find or see the relevance of a passage, we believe that it is profitable for study because Scripture says it is. Beyond that, however, looking at the three bulleted points above, a New Testament Scripture comes to mind:

⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:5,9 (NIV)

Believers today are a part of the “treasured possession” and “nation of priests” that God called out in Exodus. We gain a much deeper and richer understanding of that role and its responsibilities by understanding its history.

Finally, in response to the question “Is the book of Leviticus relevant for believers today?” let me say that I was surprised to learn that it is quoted at least forty times by New Testament writers! That alone makes me think there’s more to this book than I was getting as I began reading it this week. And there is! Let’s take a deep breath and dive into the first seven chapters.

Leviticus 1-7: It’s All About the Sacrifices

Chapters one through seven are all about sacrifices (but then you knew that if you’ve been following along with our Resting at the River’s Edge readings). It’s easy to get lost in the details of the five different types of offerings identified in these chapters, so we’re going to take them one at a time and look at what they teach us that is relevant to us today.

Burnt Offering: The word used to describe the burnt offering is olah. It comes from a root verb (alah) that means “to ascend.” The burnt offering ascends to God, going before the priests as a way of purifying the path so to speak.

He [the priest] is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
Leviticus 1:4 (NIV)

Laying his hand on the head of the animal to be sacrificed shows his identification with the animal. The action reminds the priest that it is for his sins that the animal is being slaughtered and the burnt offering goes before him making him acceptable in God’s sight. It also a “complete” offering – the entire offering is burned, which reminds us that we are to surrender not just a portion but all we are and have to the Lord.

Grain Offering: This offering was made of flour, oil and incense. A portion of it is burned before the Lord and the remainder given to the priests for food. The burned portion and the burnt animal offering seem to me to be a complete “plant and animal” offering – a picture that God is redeeming to Himself all that He has made. The portion of the grain offering that is given to the priests for food foreshadows the One who would become the “Bread of Life” and who would give eternal life to those who trust in Him. Interestingly, honey is forbidden to be used in the preparation of this sacrifice. No reason is given, but one writer made note that honey “does not smell very nice but frankincense [the incense that was commonly used] receives its highest degree of fragrance after it had been burned.” (http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/levitic.html)

Peace Offering: Unlike the burnt and grain offerings, everyone shares in the peace offering – the one giving the offering, the Lord and the priests and their families. It is truly an offering of reconciliation – between the one making the offering and the Lord, and all those involved.

Christ has given us – delegated to us – this ministry of reconciliation:

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV)

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” We are that peace offering. A portion is to be burned to rise to the Lord atoning for our sins and the sins of those we represent, and the rest is to be shared with others. Wow!

Sin Offering: The first three offerings were made as burnt offerings on the altar in the Tabernacle. The sin offering, on the other hand, was burnt on the bare earth outside the camp. The writer of the book of Hebrews references the sin offering and tells us that Jesus’ death outside of Jerusalem is an atonement for our sins:

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
Hebrews 13:11-12 (NIV)

Guilt Offering: The sin offering and guilt offering are very similar. It is also burned outside the camp. Christ’s crucifixion outside Jerusalem takes away not only our sin, but also our guilt. He sets us free, indeed! The guilt offering includes financial compensation to parties who have been wronged, introducing the principle of restitution. Christ frees us from our sin and guilt before God, but we have a responsibility to be reconciled with others and that often requires restitution.

Interestingly, this offering is the only one which is not described as a soothing aroma. Perhaps I am stretching an analogy too thin, but I can’t help but remember that guilt is never pleasing to God. He brings condemnation and desires/requires repentance. But ongoing guilt is simply a malodorous burden from the enemy.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Romans 8:1-3 (NIV)

We were guilty, but Christ’s offering removed that guilt from us. Hallelujah!

Final Thoughts about Offerings

The word for “offering” in Hebrew is corban. It comes from a root word meaning “to bring near.” The offerings described in Leviticus brought the Israelites nearer to the Lord and to the holiness that the Lord required. The offering itself brought them near to God – it went before them to make them acceptable to Him. The act of bringing the offering demonstrated their obedience and that obedience was a precursor to holiness. The offerings we bring today do the same – they bring us near to God and develop an obedience in us that moves us closer to the holy standard God requires. I am not, of course, saying that we become God or we earn a righteousness by our actions. We are righteous only when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice as the atonement for our sins – when we believe that He paid the price we owe and we live our life according to His plans and purposes.

Is the Book of Leviticus Relevant for Today?

You bet it is! When Jesus represented Himself to be baptized, John the Baptist proclaimed:

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29b (NKJV)

John the Baptist recognized that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system – that Jesus’ death met all the requirements and did so forever. Hallelujah!

Many thanks to the following blogs for their help in writing this blog:

http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/levitic.html

http://bible.org/seriespage/learning-love-leviticus#P89_4464

¹⁰Then the LORD told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my visit. Purify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. ¹¹Be sure they are ready on the third day, for I will come down upon Mount Sinai as all the people watch…¹⁴So Moses went down to the people. He purified them for worship and had them wash their clothing. ¹⁵He told them, “Get ready for an important event two days from now…”
Exodus 19:10-11, 14-15a (NLT)

What’s your Sunday morning routine like? For most people it’s rush, rush, rush to get out of the house and make it to church on time. Then there’s likely an argument in the car on the way to church. Finally, there’s the rush into church (on time if they’re lucky), put all their stuff down and join the already in progress time of worship. Ouch!

Even if your Sunday morning experience is only half as frantic as I’ve described, it’s a far cry from preparing for worship in a way that honors God. In this Old Testament passage, the Israelites were told to prepare for three days – three days! – to meet with God. I wonder how much richer my experience with God would be if I prepared for three days before meeting with Him!

Well, like you, I don’t have three days to set aside each week to prepare to worship God. There are some things that we can do on Saturday and Sunday to help us prepare to meet with God. Over the years Phil and I have developed seven strategies that help us arrive at church ready to worship.

• We plan to arrive early. If we plan to arrive at the start of the service, the probability that we’ll either be late or frustrated increases dramatically. We’ve found that arriving early gives us time to get settled, read through the bulletin, visit with friends and be ready to worship when the service starts. So, depending on our responsibilities that Sunday, we plan to arrive anywhere from ten minutes to an hour early.
• We come with an anticipation of participating in worship and meeting God. That anticipation helps to keep us from becoming a spectator. If you have children, develop and reinforce this sense of anticipation about going to church with your children. Be careful about your speech – “Tomorrow we get to go to church” instead of “Tomorrow we have to go to church.” This might seem minor, but our words mean things and convey to others our real attitudes about our activities.
• On the drive to church, there are topics that are verboten in our car. Finances and schedules top the list. No matter now innocuous a question or comment on those subjects may seem, at best it has the potential of causing stress or discouragement in one of us. At worst it could cause a disagreement. So when we’re on our way to church and I remember that I meant to ask Phil if he had paid a specific bill or cashed a check the day before, I stop myself. It’s not that those things inherently carry stress. It’s just that we’ve learned that they are topics that quickly lead us to the cares and frustrations of this world. That’s not where we want to be on Sunday mornings. Put at the top of your list any topics that are likely to cause stress, frustration, annoyance or discouragement for anyone in the car.
• We try to take care of the practical things the night before. Things like learning the shirt we were going to wear is dirty or not being able to find what we need to take with us can lead to a cranky rush as we make our way toward the car.
• We are sensitive to what’s on the television while we’re getting ready for church. On a typical day, I have a news program on TV while getting dressed in the morning. On Sundays we often change that routine and listen to televised church services.
• We are careful about the time we go to bed on Saturday night. Sometimes we miss this one and when we do, we’re usually sorry. It’s hard to truly worship God and even harder to hear His voice when we’re fighting fatigue and sleepiness.
• We frequently pray on the way to church. (What a radical idea)! We pray for our selves, the worship team, those teaching and giving the message. We thank God for the privilege of meeting openly in this country. Sometimes we’ll sing praise songs or old hymns while we drive. It’s amazing how the attitude in the car changes when we do this.

We have this awesome opportunity to spend time with the creator of the universe in corporate and private worship every Sunday morning (or whenever your church meets). Let’s make the most of it by preparing in a way that honors Him.

Resting at the River’s Edge provides an opportunity to participate in reading through the Bible in a systematic way. We’re following a two year plan (2012 and 2013) that has us reading the New Testament each year and the Old Testament stretched over the two years. Each month our reading plans also provide a column titled “Additional.” This column provides readings that will allow you to read through the entire Bible (that is, the complete Old and New Testaments) during the year 2012.

Join the conversation as we read together each month. E-mail me, leave a message on the Apprehending Grace Facebook page, or post a comment at the end of any blog. God has treasures for each of us as we read. Let’s share them!

Also, NEW in 2012 are our RARE bookmarks. Click on the link below to download them. Each bookmark provides two months of Resting at the River’s Edge reading schedules and is great for tracking your readings. (We found an “oops” in the bookmarks we uploaded last month – we forgot to include Feb 29 in the schedule. The bookmarks have been updated to reflect the additional day we get this year.)

Use the tracking method that works best for you – the schedule provided in this blog, the downloadable half-page PDF or bookmark. All provide the same schedule.

I pray that you enjoy your time with God as you read each day.
Sandy

Here’s March’s reading plan:

Resting at the River’s Edge provides an opportunity to participate in reading through the Bible in a systematic way. We’re following a two year plan (2012 and 2013) that has us reading the New Testament each year and the Old Testament stretched over the two years. Each month our reading plans also provide a column titled “Additional.” This column provides readings that will allow you to read through the entire Bible (that is, the complete Old and New Testaments) during the year 2012.

Join the conversation as we read together each month. E-mail me, leave a message on the Apprehending Grace Facebook page, or post a comment at the end of any blog. God has treasures for each of us as we read. Let’s share them!

Also, NEW  in 2012 are our RARE bookmarks. Click on the link below to download them. Each bookmark provides two months of Resting at the River’s Edge reading schedules and is great for tracking your readings.

Use the tracking method that works best for you – the schedule provided in this blog, the downloadable half-page PDF or bookmark. All provide the same schedule.

Happy treasure seeking, friends!
Sandy

Here’s February’s reading plan:

In our reading in the Old Testament for Resting at the River’s Edge we are making a transition. We finished reading Exodus on Friday. Monday we begin reading Deuteronomy. That’s quite a jump! Let me provide some background.

We’re following a plan that has us reading through the Old Testament over a two year period while reading the whole New Testament each year. Built into the plan in the second year is a second reading of a few foundational Old Testament books:

Genesis – This “Book of Beginnings” provides the creation story, a discussion of the origins of sin, reveals God’s first steps in His plan to overcome the power of sin in people’s lives, and introduces God’s covenant with His people. It provides the very foundation of all that happens after it. It also details the beginning of the history of the Israelites. At the end of the book we find that the Israelites are living in Egypt, having moved there during a famine when Joseph was the Prime Minister. The Israelites were thriving in Egypt.

Exodus – This book takes us through the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, a critical turning point in their history. At the beginning of the book, Joseph and the Pharaoh under which he served have both died. The new Pharaoh recognized that the Israelites were thriving and became afraid of losing his kingdom to them. Consequently, he enslaved them, and their treatment as slaves became increasingly harsh over time. God raised up Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh and ultimately rescues the Israelites out of Egypt. The book then records the process of God teaching the Israelites how to worship Him and how to live in community. In the last chapters of the book, we have God giving instructions for building the Tabernacle and the Israelites building it according to those instructions.

Deuteronomy – This book is important because it records three sermons Moses gave shortly before his death. The Israelites have wandered through the wilderness for forty years (recorded in the book of Numbers) and are now poised to enter the Promised Land. Moses will not be going into the Promised land with them. It records Moses’ wisdom and advice to the people before they embark on a tremendous adventure and challenge without him.

We’re in the second year of the reading plan, and have just completed reading Genesis and Exodus. We are skipping over the books of Leviticus (a detailed instruction manual for the priesthood) and Numbers (an account of the Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness). In chapter 27 of Numbers, the Lord begins the process of transitioning the Israelites from wandering through the wilderness to crossing into the Promised Land:

¹²One day the LORD said to Moses, “Climb to the top of the mountains east of the river, and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. ¹³After you have seen it, you will die as Aaron your brother did, ¹⁴for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵Then Moses said to the LORD, ¹⁶“O LORD, the God of the spirits of all living things, please appoint a new leader for the community. ¹⁷Give them someone who will lead them into battle, so the people of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Numbers 27:12-17

The book of Numbers finishes with instructions about their first steps into the Promised Land.

On to Deuteronomy
Monday’s reading will be the first two chapters of Deuteronomy. You’ll find Moses on the east bank of the Jordan River. The Promised Land is on the other side of the river. He’ll begin with a history of the Israelites’ journey. He’s not just an old man telling stories. His repetition of history is meant to remind the Israelites (and us) of the goodness of their God throughout the generations and many of the lessons they have learned throughout a long history of following and rebelling against that God.

Now that you’re caught up a bit, enjoy Monday’s reading. And if you haven’t been reading along with us, Monday’s a great place to jump in and join us.

Love, The Gospel & The Law

This month we’ll read:

• The three letters of John and the book of Philemon (think “love”)
• The book of Luke (think “Gospel”)
• Deuteronomy (think “Law”)

The exciting thing is that all reveal God’s purposes, His nature and His great love for us. Here’s a snippet from Deuteronomy, Luke and 1 John.

⁷“The LORD did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! ⁸It was simply because the LORD loves you, and because he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such amazing power… ⁹Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and constantly loves those who love him and obey his commands. Deuteronomy 7:-9

^30b“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end….^35b So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:30-35

¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him…. ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. ⁴Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins…. 1 John 3:1-5

If you don’t know this God, I encourage you to read with us this month. If you do know this God, I encourage you to read with us this month. He has something to say to each of us. I’m looking forward to it!

Blessings, Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for March is below.

To download a PDF of March’s recommended reading plan, click here.

³So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. For the LORD has brought you out by his mighty power. (Remember, you are not to use any yeast.) ⁴This day in early spring will be the anniversary of your exodus. ⁵You must celebrate this day when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. This is the land he swore to give your ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey.
Exodus 13:35 (NLT)

In America we celebrate many things: birthdays, anniversaries (of all kinds), New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, 4^th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. In our house, we like to celebrate Ground Hog Day. Some people even celebrate Tax Day.

Some days receive major celebration, some just a little. I’m guessing, though, that we let the most significant days go by without notice. God told Moses and Moses told the people to celebrate the day they came out of Egypt because “the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.” I haven’t been a slave in Egypt, but I have been a slave to sin. Then I came to read in the Bible that Christ died to set me free from that bondage and I prayed something like “Lord, I don’t understand what I’ve just read, but I want to believe it and I want to believe in You. So if You’re real, help me to understand.” A while later, I became convinced of the reality of God and further convinced that He loved me…even when I didn’t even believe in Him. At that point, my heart was changed and I prayed a different sort of prayer. It went something like this: “Lord, forgive me. I still don’t understand a lot of things, but I believe You are who You say you are in the Bible and I believe Jesus died for my sins. To the best of my ability in my limited knowledge, I give my life to You.” That was my day of FREEDOM. That’s when God began to make the tremendous changes in my heart that have occurred over the past thirty-two years. It was May 21 that I prayed that second prayer.

Do you celebrate your Freedom Day? Do you commemorate the day in which the Lord brought you out of bondage? We typically do little more than remember “Oh, today’s my spiritual birthday.” I’d like to step that up a bit. Any ideas? What kind of Freedom Day or spiritual birthday celebration do you think honors the Lord?

¹⁷When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.
Exodus 13:17-18

Do you sometimes wonder why God seems to be taking the long way around to fulfilling your dreams? Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s because He knows that taking the shorter route would require facing enemies that you’re not ready to fight. So He patiently leads you around those enemies until you have gained strength and knowledge, faith and perseverance. Then, when you are ready to make the final steps toward the land He has promised you, He’ll lead you into it.

I love serving a Father who truly knows what’s best for me and leads me into it! Lord, help me to embrace life knowing that You are leading me even when it feels like we’re going nowhere. Help me to remember that sometimes taking the long route is for my own good. Enable me to embrace that fact and enjoy the journey, not running ahead or falling behind.

God is so good!

Moses and the Hebrews

¹And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are bound for heaven, think about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s Messenger and High Priest. ²For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully and was entrusted with God’s entire house. ³But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a fine house deserves more praise than the house itself. ⁴For every house has a builder, but God is the one who made everything.
⁵Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house, but only as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. ⁶But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household. And we are God’s household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.
– Hebrews 3:1-6

Our February reading will have us read about Moses’ great leadership of the Israelites as God worked through him to bring God’s people out of bondage. We’ll find ourselves almost finishing the entire book of Exodus as we read throughout the month. While reading Exodus we’ll also read the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews was written to the New Testament Israelites. It begins by establishing a point of connection between the Old Testament Israelites and those living when the book was written.

¹Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. ²But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. ³The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.
– Hebrews 1:1-3

Let me know what new things God speaks to you as you read these related passages in February. Enjoy!

Blessings, Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for February is below.

To download a PDF of February’s recommended reading plan, click here.