Faith in the One who Makes Us Holy

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Exodus 31:13, ” You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. “

Background

It can be a frustrating experience to be seeking after one thing and get another. Do not most of our daily aggravations and irritations come from striving for one result but getting another? Problems between husbands and wives or bosses and employees can many times be boiled down to unmet expectations. A spouse may say that they would like something done a particular way or at a particular time, but they just can’t seem to get the satisfaction they desire. Employers spell out requirements and issue deadlines, but rarely is pure gratification found in a timeline or a quota. And for me, I spend time seeking wisdom and direction and clarity from God concerning my home and my children. And what does He send me? ” Above all, you shall keep My Sabbaths. ” Say what? I’m at a crossroads of sorts, a critical time in the midst of critical times, and He gives me ” Honor the Sabbath. ” I need to know what and how and why and when, and He says to keep the sign I gave for you and your next generation – your children.

Application

He told Moses to have no other gods before Him, to honor His Name, and then to remember the Sabbath. Somehow, His preeminence, His Name, and His Sabbath encapsulate His holiness. And perhaps, when I digest His vastness, His authority, His creation and His design, I will see His holiness, and the generation that follows me will see something worth following. Perhaps when I turn my day after Saturday into more than a day to go to church, more than a routine before a God who is anything but routine, then I will have my focus where it needs to be. Adam and Eve probably raised Cain and Abel the same, but one turned out to be a murderer. How? We can answer that with our theology, but as parents, where does that get us? It should get us to our helplessness and His holiness, to where we hold on tighter to Jesus, knowing we can’t hold our kids tight enough. But that’s ok, if we believe He can. It’s hard, like understanding why God Almighty would take a day of rest. But it’s His design, and it’s based on faith. Faith in the only One who is faithful, though. Faith in the only One who makes us, or our kids, holy.

Charge

As we seek Him today, go to Him for answers. Go to Him with questions. But just go to Him. And keep going, even when you don’t know why.