DAY 177- BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE WILDERNESS
Reading: Deuteronomy 16:9-17; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13
I have lots of brothers and sisters and if family life has taught me anything, it is that achieving unity is not easy. The many millions whom God saved and led into the Wilderness were slavish in their mentality, as we saw yesterday. This caused them to be very divided, which was exacerbated by the tribal and family lines that formed their social groupings.
Whenever God’s people have the mind and attitude of slaves, division and strife will be present and ultimately, undo the plans of God. The feasts that the Lord commanded His people to keep every year were reminders that God had delivered them as a people and not as individuals. They were called ‘feasts’ because they were times of sacred rest and joyful worship, times of togetherness. When these feasts were celebrated together they had the power to transform individuals into a united people and taught them to put Gods commands and purposes before the wishes and demands of family or extended clan. Notice in your reading for today that the “sojourner, stranger, foreigner or outsider”, the person without an inheritance, was especially to be welcomed at the feasts and brought in to the community.
God has many children and even though each individual child is special to him, He prepares our lives for greatness by teaching us how to treat each other in the family of the Church. Most believers don’t have a problem loving God, but struggle to learn how to enjoy love and unity within their Church family. This will hinder growth and maturity.
Prayer
Lord, teach me how to be unified with my church family, save me from a mindset of individualism.
For the family
Today and tomorrow, watch this video about the sacred feasts given to the people of God.