The next set of instructions that Moses was to bring to the people of Israel was regarding the feasts and celebrations that would mark the Jewish calendar. Mere mortal men have added and detracted to this over the centuries, but here we have God with his Filofax setting out how and when His people would rest, how they would remember their deliverance from Egypt, how they would acknowledge and return His provision, how they would remember His covenant with them, seek His forgiveness, and regularly reconnect with both their God and His community. God was seeking to bless them throughout all of this so that they would keep trusting, keep acknowledging Him, keep growing stronger, and keep accepting with thanksgiving all that He was providing. It was not a calendar for their time in the dessert, but for their time in the Promised Land they had not yet entered. It is therefore a passage full of promises for the life they are about to enjoy in fulfilment of the promises He had made them. Pray that God would protect you from becoming complacent, and that you would acknowledge daily all His goodness to you, and that you would daily look to the cross and be reminded of His grace that is new every morning.
Friday, 9th October - Leviticus 23
9th October 2015