DAY 149 - BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE LAW

THEN HE TOOK THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT AND READ IT TO THE PEOPLE. THEY RESPONDED, “WE WILL DO EVERYTHING THE LORD HAS SAID; WE WILL OBEY.

EXODUS 24:7

Reading: Exodus 19: 5; Exodus 24: 7-11; Deuteronomy 4: 13; Hebrews 8: 7-10

The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt to His holy mountain.

Here He revealed Himself to them, and spoke the Ten Commandments to the whole nation from the fiery clouds on Mount Sinai. He wanted to set apart a people for Himself, who would carry out His commandments so that He could bless them and make them a witness to the nations.

In short, He wanted a covenant people. He wanted to give Himself in love and commitment to a people and desired that they would give themselves to Him in love, trust and obedience. 

This desire had always been there. When God made the Heavens and the Earth, and put His first people into their place, it was because He intended to live with them. 

The first man, Adam, at first lived in radical trust, dependence and obedience but later, he failed to obey. And this led to his tragic expulsion from Eden. Even in the wilderness beyond Eden, God continued to reach out to people. Grace came to Noah and thereafter, to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham and all his descendants. Abraham believed and obeyed, and became our father – the father of the people of faith. He was also the father of the physical nation of Israel. 

If you have faith in the One who called the covenant, as Abraham did, then you are part of His covenant people. How wonderful to know that you have a God who is totally committed to you. 

Prayer

Lord, thank You for making me a part of Your covenant people that I may inherit the promises that You swore on oath to Your people. I, too, choose to say: “I will do everything the Lord has said; I will obey”.

For the family 

Explain

Explain to your children that we do not to follow a rule book to be part of the covenant people – that Jesus has fulfilled all requirements of the law and we must just believe and obey His Holy Spirit to inherit His promises to us. Often promises come with conditions to them – with terms like “obey”, just like the Israelites’ promise of land depended on them not serving other gods.

Engage

In last month’s edition, you prayed with your children to discover the promises that God has spoken over their lives. Discuss these promises again, but this time, talk through what God has said he requires of them to inherit those promises.