Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Easter: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Old Testament Lesson

Leviticus 26:1-20

We see the Lord tell the people that if they will keep the covenant, He will bring rain, He will protect, He will keep them. If they will worship Him, and Him alone, He will take care of the people. But, we know from reading the rest of the Bible, the people didn't do that. They turned from Him, and turned to worshiping false idols. The would worship, for instance, Baal.  

Baal was the pagan god of plenty, and of agriculture.  Their neighbors believed it was Baal that caused their fields to grow, and if they didn't grow, than Baal must be mad at them. So, when Israel began to worship Baal, that was most of all about trust. They thought, yes, the LORD will take care of our needs, He will cause our fields to grow, He will protect us.  But, we had better have a back up plan. So, they began to worship Baal to cover all their bases. 

The Lord promised to take care of them, but they didn't fully trust Him. They turned to other things. How do we do? Sure, we may not have a false idol in our living room, but instead of trusting in God fully, do we turn to other things, "just in case."  Today, He promised to take care of us. May we trust in Him.  

New Testament Lesson

1 Timothy 2:1-6

This has one of great verses of Scripture within it. Remember, that God is a god that longs for everyone to be saved.  He is not looking to cast people away, He does not delight in judgement, He does not want to reject anyone. He is a god that longs for all creation, and each of us to know Him.  He would go to the furthest reaches of creation to make sure that we have a chance to know Him.  We must simply accept what He has done. His desire is for each us to know Him, know His love, mercy, and grace. 

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 13:18-23

We see that seed is sown in many ways to many people. God will always seek to sow His seed of grace within our hearts. The question must ask ourselves is, then, what type of dirt are we?  Are we the soil that will receive the word?  Are we the soil that is ready to hear what God has to say to us? Are we the kind of soil that will respond to the grace given?  Or are we the soil that is too busy, too rushed, too hurried to allow the seed to grow roots deep down. 

May our hearts always be the type of soil where God's grace can grow deep.  

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