Loving God who mends and tends; bless the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes Exodus 20: 1 God spoke all these words: 2 I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery. 3 No other gods, only me. 4 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. 5 Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am God, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. 6 But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. 7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverant use of his name. 8 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Work six days and do everything you need to do. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work - not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. 11 For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day. 12 Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you. 13 No murder. 14 No adultery. 15 No stealing. 16 No lies about your neighbor. 17 No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's. (The Message)
In 1998 I had to learn how to use Windows XP on a daily basis. I had been a Mac person until then, but in receiving an appointment to a new church, this church used all PCs. It involved basically the same things, but some things were different. Upon my appointment to another church six years later I had a PC laptop. This was easy and convenient but there were things I had to learn. My progression with computers went along almost with new developments like wireless connection to the Internet and my new laptop then had wi-fi capabilities. I learned that at the bottom right of my screen was a row of little icons that told me the status of various things, like battery life and whether or not I was connected to the internet. I also learned that if you "right-clicked" on the wi-fi indicator you could find an option called "Repair." Upon clicking on that you could restore the connection to the Internet. It happened this morning before I could write this devotional. My PC side of my Mac wasn't connecting. I could do one of two things, use my phone as a HotSpot or repair the connection. Yesterday I used my phone and didn't worry about repairing it; today I opted for repair.
This passage is all about repairing our relationship with God and with God's people. We know this passage as the Ten Commandments. Each is special and powerful and each addresses the connection we need to maintain a strong connection with God and with each other. Look at each one carefully. What is your attitude to God? Is God first in your life? How do you view Creation? Does creation sometimes take the place of God? Are you tempted to worship things other than the Creator? Each one asks a question of us and each serves to repair and restore us to where God would have us be.
PRAYER: Loving God, as I and the person praying this as their own prayer, journey on these forty days, help me to know how to connect more deeply to You. If something in my life is lacking, help me to repair it to fullness. I thank You for this powerful passage and I thank you for grace, which restores us completely and wholely to You. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
