February 1

Exodus 13:17-15:18, Matthew 21:23-46, Psalm 26:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19

Pray: Lord, may Your steadfast love be before our eyes, help us to walk in Your faithfulness. Let the prayer of our breath be the command of Moses today. “I will fear not, I will stand firm, and I will see the salvation of the Lord.” Amen.

Read: Ok, I know that we are supposed to cut the Jewish people some slack since they were pre-Jesus and everything, but this story is just ridiculous. With their backs against the “red sea wall” and the Egyptians bearing down on them, this is what the Israelites say. “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” How sarcastic and whiny… Are these not the same Jews that saw God reign down ten insanely powerful, awe inspiring plagues on the Egyptians to ensure their freedom? But we are all susceptible to freaking out when things seem tough and we start complaining. I love Moses’ response “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Let’s repeat that to ourselves the next time we face adversity or looming fear in our lives. Feel free to repeat it as many times as necessary.

Edify: Sometimes my wife asks me to do something for her and I tell her no. But then I wise up and remember that I love her and follow through on what she has asked me to do even though I told her no. She doesn’t mind that so much. What really causes some marital strife is when I tell her I am going to do something and then don’t. Uh oh. Jesus tells us a parable like this today. Prostitutes and tax collectors may not look like followers of Jesus, like you religious leaders, but they are humbling themselves and following me now. You religious leaders have had the truth before you all along and in word, you have said you worship God, but yet you don’t. Ouch. Let’s worship God in both word and deed. Things go better for us that way.

Practice: In our reading from Proverbs today we hear what God hates: Pride, lying, murder, planning sin, running to sin, lying and disunity. Let’s be careful to remember these, especially that lying is listed twice! It is vitally important to know not only what God loves, but to remind ourselves of the things that are detestable to the Lord.