Good Morning Girls Devotional "Why Easter Matters" Week 1

 

This is the reading for Mon, 3/31.

Today we read about how the feast of Passover came to be. It is a traditional Jewish feast that celebrates God saving His people from destruction through the blood of the lamb (Jesus Christ).

Read: Exodus 12:1-14

God said to Moses and Aaron while still in Egypt, “This month is to be the first month of the year for you. Address the whole community of Israel; tell them that on the tenth of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one lamb to a house. If the family is too small for a lamb, then share it with a close neighbor, depending on the number of persons involved. Be mindful of how much each person will eat. Your lamb must be a healthy male, one year old; you can select it from either the sheep or the goats. Keep it penned until the fourteenth day of this month and then slaughter it—the entire community of Israel will do this—at dusk. Then take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which you will eat it. You are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire, that night, along with bread, made without yeast, and bitter herbs. Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water; make sure it’s roasted—the whole animal, head, legs, and innards. Don’t leave any of it until morning; if there are leftovers, burn them in the fire.

 

“And here is how you are to eat it: Be fully dressed with your sandals on and your stick in your hand. Eat in a hurry; it’s the Passover to God.

“I will go through the land of Egypt on this night and strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, whether human or animal, and bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am God. The blood will serve as a sign on the houses where you live. When I see the blood I will pass over you—no disaster will touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

“This will be a memorial day for you; you will celebrate it as a festival to God down through the generations, a fixed festival celebration to be observed always. You will eat unraised bread (matzoth) for seven days: On the first day get rid of all yeast from your houses—anyone who eats anything with yeast from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off from Israel. The first and the seventh days are set aside as holy; do no work on those days. Only what you have to do for meals; each person can do that."

S: Exodus 12:13 "But the blood on your houses will be a sign for your protection. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing will touch or destroy you when I strike Egypt."

O: Ok, so I'm really stuck on this one. I could go with the simple, obvious observation...those who obeyed God and marked their door with blood would be protected from whatever God was about to do in Egypt. However, I did a little research and reading, and found something interesting. So here goes it:

"So judgement was to come upon Egypt. The only hope for Israel was to be under the blood. Let me ask a question – Why were the Israelites saved – did it come down to their own personal worthiness? No, not at all… There would have been some righteous Jews amongst them and there would have probably been some shockers! But it didn’t come down to whether they were worthy of salvation. It simply came down to whether they were sheltering under the blood of the lamb! Let me ask another question… what possible ground for rest would the Israelites have had? You see, they knew that the avenging angel is coming to strike down all the firstborn so it would have been quite a frightening time. They wouldn’t have had any sense of rest or peace because of their works, but only because of the blood! I’m sure you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to see where I’m going with this. The rest and peace that we have as Christians doesn’t come from our own worthiness. It comes from the simple fact that the blood of Jesus has been shed for our sins. Jesus is our peace. See Col 1:20, Eph 2:13-14, Rom 3:24-25. 5:1,9" 
(http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/exodus12.htm)
 
A: I need to be conscious of the fact that ALL my sins have been washed clean by the blood of Christ. BUT, that doesn't mean I can continually sin. This was a great sacrifice made. I need to be respectful of that. I need to be obedient to God. 

P: Lord Jesus, what an amazing sacrifice you made for us. Let us be constantly mindful of that as we live our daily lives. You died so we could be saved. I pray that our actions reflect what You would expect of us. In Your Holy Name I pray, Jesus Christ. Amen.