“This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13:9 NIV84)

Sometimes we just have the wrong perspective when it comes to our religious observances and practices. We turn our Sunday worship and daily stewardship into rituals rather than responses. What do I mean? We have a tendency to turn opportunities to show God our gratitude for all He has done into ritual acts of obedience. Read our verse for today, and see God’s perspective on the annual practice of the Passover. It was God’s goal that the Passover celebration would be a reminder to the people of God about His love and grace. Notice He mentions the reminder being fastened to the hands and forehead. When it comes to our physical bodies, we view our hands more than we view any other part of our body. They are always out in front of us working and doing. Our forehead is in our view anytime we see our reflection in a mirror. God would like us to be reminded of His grace and redemption every time we see our hands or our face.

The same is true for us today. Satan can too easily cause us Christians to turn a religion of grace into a burden of the law. We must constantly be reminded, and remind ourselves, that all that we are and have is based on the love and grace of God. As the Israelites were to always remember that their lives were rooted in God’s graciously rescuing them from the Egyptians, we are to always remember that our lives ought to be rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We don’t go to church and live out our Christian lives in order to fulfill a “do!” We do those things in order to say, “Thank You!”

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church