Day 96
Deuteronomy 4:15-5:33, Luke 11:5-32, Proverbs 8:32-36
Contrast the first four commandments with the rest, and especially with 6,7,8 & 9. In terms of a word count, the first four must take up a third of the length of the whole ten. These 4 all relate to the people's relationship with the Lord. The reading opens with the instruction not to have any others idols and then moves on later to the Ten Commandments. Through all of this we see similar things to the early parts of the Exodus journey, where God sorted out the relationship between himself and people quite early on. It is one of the most important things in history, the covenant, the relationship, between God and man, it is that important that God puts it first and he puts more effort into it than anything else, he even sent his son for it!
In the midst of all of this, Moses proclaims that the "Lord is God". He recounts the parts where God speaks from the fire and does mighty and powerful things. All of this we may have heard before but it takes on significance here. We start with our relationship with the Lord, we end with our relationship with him, and bang slap in the middle is the declaration that he is the God of all things. No matter how big he is, no matter how much he has done and no matter how marvellous we think he is, we can still have a relationship with him.
The Gospel underlines the love that underpins that relationship, the father who is there when we seek him, the door that will be opened when we knock. Beyond that though there is the gift of the Holy Spirit, more than we might expect and yet the power to do all things. Jesus drove out demons and when we are united with Christ we too can do all that he requires of us. In the name of the spirit, healing has taken place, mountains can be moved, the devil can be defeated.
There might be idols that we need to put aside, society throws many idols at us. Beyond the idol though we can see the one true God and he is calling us to him, not only is he calling but he carries a gift. So is there something that you need to put aside in order to take up the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Lord offers?
Contrast the first four commandments with the rest, and especially with 6,7,8 & 9. In terms of a word count, the first four must take up a third of the length of the whole ten. These 4 all relate to the people's relationship with the Lord. The reading opens with the instruction not to have any others idols and then moves on later to the Ten Commandments. Through all of this we see similar things to the early parts of the Exodus journey, where God sorted out the relationship between himself and people quite early on. It is one of the most important things in history, the covenant, the relationship, between God and man, it is that important that God puts it first and he puts more effort into it than anything else, he even sent his son for it!
In the midst of all of this, Moses proclaims that the "Lord is God". He recounts the parts where God speaks from the fire and does mighty and powerful things. All of this we may have heard before but it takes on significance here. We start with our relationship with the Lord, we end with our relationship with him, and bang slap in the middle is the declaration that he is the God of all things. No matter how big he is, no matter how much he has done and no matter how marvellous we think he is, we can still have a relationship with him.
The Gospel underlines the love that underpins that relationship, the father who is there when we seek him, the door that will be opened when we knock. Beyond that though there is the gift of the Holy Spirit, more than we might expect and yet the power to do all things. Jesus drove out demons and when we are united with Christ we too can do all that he requires of us. In the name of the spirit, healing has taken place, mountains can be moved, the devil can be defeated.
There might be idols that we need to put aside, society throws many idols at us. Beyond the idol though we can see the one true God and he is calling us to him, not only is he calling but he carries a gift. So is there something that you need to put aside in order to take up the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Lord offers?
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