NIV Once a Day Easter
Day 5
EXODUS 19:5-8
[The Lord told Moses to tell the Israelites,] “ ‘Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
ROMANS 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
READ ALSO GALATIANS 3:23-25, PHILIPPIANS 3:8-9, ROMANS 4:23-25 AND JOHN 5:39-40.
MEDITATION
God must have known that the law he gave to his people through Moses was too difficult for a sinful people to follow. And so, it would have come as no surprise to him that they failed. They turned away from God and looked for their ultimate fulfillment not in him but in other things. A holy and just God cannot lower his standards. In the fallen world in which we live, there developed a great divide, a separation between God and humans. But the God who works all things together for our good provided a way for everyone to become his, a way for all of us to meet his standards. And he made it simple (though we must not confuse simple with easy). God sent his Son as a sacrifice. In order for Jesus to begin the process of reforming God’s image in us, he had to become one of us, yet remain perfectly righteous. And he had to pay the ultimate penalty for all of our sin, suffering on the cross, experiencing for unbearable hours all of the pain that sin brings. And that is what he did.
PRAYER
Holy Father, you are perfect and just in all your ways, and it is only in you that I can find true life. Protect me from the subtle forms of idolatry that infiltrate my heart, that I find myself serving and worshiping even as they lead me to frustration and despair. You and you alone must occupy the center of my being. I am grateful that when I do succumb to the sins of disobedience, your grace reaches further than my rebellion. Thank you for sending your Son to rescue me—to keep the law and to die as a sinless sacrifice for my wayward thoughts, feelings and acts. Teach me to rest in your righteousness and pursue you above all else. In Christ’s holy name. Amen.