Serve God Alone

Justice, Law, History The Source of Justice Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)  Exodus 23:13-19 New International Version 13 "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips. The Three Annual Festivals 14 "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. 15 "Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month, you came out of Egypt. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed. 16 "Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. 17 "Three times a year, all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. 18 "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. "The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. 19 "Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.   For Reflection When I was a younger man, I thought the practice of rituals and celebrations, except for Christmas and Easter, of course, was useless and held little meaning. However, as I grew older, I realized that those same rituals I rejected grounded me in ways I never expected. You see, the pattern of remembrance grounded the Hebrews. It reminded them of who they were and their relation to their creator and savior. Because they lived among pagans who were forever worshiping one God or another for all the things they wanted. They called on the fertility gods if they wanted children, the god of the sun if they wished to special privileges, or the gods of war if they wanted to be strong in battle. The Hebrews had only one God to which they owed their allegiance. One sovereign God to whom they prayed and in whom they found protection and comfort. These three festivals were celebrations of God's covenant reminding each Hebrew to whom they shall be obedient.   Pray Pray and remember to whom you belong. Pray and remember your story as a child of God. Pray and celebrate the grand and glorious living story into which God birthed you. Forward to a friend