Easter: Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Old Testament Lesson

Exodus 19:1-16

We see here that God is telling the people that He will come to them. He reminds them that He was the one that freed them from Egypt and now He is coming to instruct them to be who He calls them to be.

If God calls us, He will show us the way to go. He had a high calling for Israel, and in this passages, we see the way He will instruct them to be holy; He gives them the law, and by keeping that law they will be "set apart," or holy.

For us as Christians, through His grace, we become holy. Just as the people of Israel had to keep the law to be "set apart," so must we say yes to God's grace each day of our lives. And that means that we must allow God's grace to work in us and through us to change us, to transform us, to make us into what we should be. See, we are called, as they were called, to be holy. To be different. To stand out. Today, do we stand out from those that are not Christian? Today is there a difference between the way we live and the way that they live? If we are saying yes to God's grace, there must be. Today, are we living different?

New Testament Lesson

Colossians 1:1-14

This passage talks about how we are to be within the light, and that light is supposed to drive out darkness. An interesting fact about darkness is that it has no physical properties. Darkness is merely the absence of light. The only way there is darkness is that there is no light. When there is light, there is literally no darkness.

In the same way, the areas of lives that are dark are the areas of our lives that we have not allowed God's light into. God's light will drive out the darkness of our lives; but first we must let Him in. Unless we allow His light to penetrated the darkness of our hearts, the darkness of those hidden place, the darkness of those hidden sins, His light does us no good. Today, what area of your life are you hidden from His light? Apart from His light, we are in darkness. What part of your life are you allowing to stay dark?

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 3:7-12

John tells us today that one of the things that Jesus will do is that He will divide the wheat from the chaff. One will be placed in the safety and security of the barn, one will be thrown into the judgement and destruction of the fire. There is unity in Jesus, all that believe upon Him can be one. But, there is also division and separation. We must choose. We must choose will we serve Jesus, or the world. Will we serve God, or our possessions. We will be faithful to the truth, or to our culture.

Jesus calls us to Himself, and calls us to leave behind all things that keep us from Him. Today, may we cling to Jesus.