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REFLECTION
Doing what is Right
by David Thompson
Doing what is right, maintaining Justice, keeping God's covenant and not desecrating the Sabbath. All of these things are good things and by highlighting them in this passage, they point to things that God holds dear as key attributes of a follower of Christ.
Keeping the Sabbath or not desecrating it reminds me of a saying my wife use to have when we were first married and trying to live a Christian walk. We would be coming out of Church and I would ask if she wanted to get a bite to eat at McDonald's or someplace like that. She would say, "Has your ox fallen into a ditch (well)? (Luke 14:5). Is it OK to break the Sabbath?" That would stop me in my tracks and often times we would not go out for lunch.
Likewise, we are commanded to maintain justice. We hear a lot about justice today. Some denominations work hard to make this one of their main goals. So what is justice? It is looking out for and supporting those less fortunate than us. I am proud to say that UALC is very involved in justice concerns. We give 20% of our revenue to mission field work, to areas of devastation like the recent tornado areas, and many other worthy needs around to world.
Later in the passage, God reminds us to hold fast to His covenant. This includes not only the Jewish people being spoken to in this old testament passage, but to all the people in the world. The covenant being spoken about in this passage is the Old Covenant of the times before Christ. I am happy to report that we are under the New Covenant where our sins are forgiven and we are made right through the blood of the Lamb. John 1:12 states, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—" This promise was not exclusive to any one ethnic or religious group, but to all. And most importantly it is given to us. Praise be to God.
Dear God, thank you for all you have done for us. We are so lucky to be under the New Covenant. We know we are not perfect, but we are forgiven. Amen.
Thank you, David. I love taking my wife out for brunch after church on Sunday since she doesn't have to cook and she enjoys the respite from daily routines. We make it a spiritual time for sharing God's blessings in our life and family.
I like your closing line that we are not perfect, but we are forgiven. His sacrifice has set me free to live in His footsteps and that is so rewarding.
In Him,
Robin Lorms