43The LORD gave Moses and Aaron the following instructions for celebrating Passover:
No one except Israelites may eat the Passover meal.
44Your slaves may eat the meal if they have been circumcised, 45but no foreigners who work for you are allowed to have any.
46The entire meal must be eaten inside, and no one may leave the house during the celebration.
No bones of the Passover lamb may be broken. 47And all Israelites must take part in the meal.
48If anyone who isn't an Israelite wants to celebrate Passover with you, every man and boy in that family must first be circumcised. Then they may join in the meal, just like native Israelites. No uncircumcised man or boy may eat the Passover meal! 49This law applies both to native Israelites and to those foreigners who live among you.
50The Israelites obeyed everything the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron to tell them. 51And on that same day the LORD brought Israel's families and tribes out of Egypt.
Exodus 13
1The LORD said to Moses, 2" Dedicate to me the first-born son of every family and the first-born males of your flocks and herds. These belong to me."
******************
I love the passion that is displayed by God for his people. There are no questions as to how God feels about them: he wants them to worship him first, before anything else. He wants to see them live faithfully, with lives structured around his holy Word. He wants the people to be passionately in love with him.
Of course, they, like every generation since, don't quite get it. They put so many other priorities first, choosing their own health and wealth over the abundant life found only in God.
But still God pursues them, just as God pursues us, seeking a relationship that will live on for all of eternity.
Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment