I don't know if I've said it yet on this blog, but I lived in Canada for four years.
One of the (many) cool things about Canada that I'll always remember is a holiday called...well...Remembrance Day. It's a day in November that most of us in the States refer to as Veteran's Day--a day to remember the sacrifices of our armed forces (the holiday really started to commemorate veterans of World War I).
What's different about the Canadian observation of the day is that it's very visible--over half the of the population wears red poppies, put them on their backpacks, pins them on their coats--in honor of the country's vets. (Note: In case you're interested, they wear poppies because of a poem called "In Flanders Fields.") I thought the visual representation of support for those who served was really cool. It also made it easy to remember the holiday and those who served.
Do you know that God likes "Remembrance" days?
It's something I definitely noticed in today's passage. Take a look:
The seventh day is a Sabbath,
day of total and complete rest,
a sacred assembly.
Don't do any work.
Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to God.
In addition to describing the Sabbath, this passage outlines several holidays God designed for His people to remember Him and what He did for them.
As I'm writing this post, Christmas is barely three days away! And as much as I LOVE my family, spending time with friends, a break from work and giving (and receiving) gifts, Christmas is first and foremost a time to remember a day when the world was changed forever. It's a time to remember the history-altering event when a little baby in a manger was called Emmanuel--God with us. Think about that. God came to be with us, to walk with us, teach us, to help us and heal us. That baby grew up and changed the world--but more surprisingly, the baby born over 2,000 years ago in a stable cared enough to change me. That's a miracle worth remembering this season and always.
Tomorrow: Leviticus 24-25
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