The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. (Exodus 12:1-4 ESV)
A New Year. A time when we make commitments to all sorts of changes. As the people of Israel set out of the land of slavery toward the promised land, the celebration of Passover was to be an annual reminder of where they had come from, and what is important. The first thing they are told to do is share. If their family was too small to consume the whole lamb in one sitting, they were to share one with a neighboring family. This is by no means an exception to the rule, a rarity. Think how much left-over turkey most households have at Thanksgiving, when having lots of family and friends over. Sharing was the plan. The back-up plan was to burn what was left. Sad to say, in our society, we often choose the back-up plan to the main one. We choose wasting over sharing. It takes planning and preparation to share. That's what God wants us to do: intentionally share. Not be forced into it, or drop a few coins in the bucket. Prepare to share. Think about ways this year you can share.
No comments:
Post a Comment