Numbers 29:40 ~ Devotion

⁴⁰ Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord commanded him.  (Numbers 29:40; NIV)

 

An elderly lady waited all afternoon for a plumber to arrive.  Late in the day, she gave up and headed for the grocery store.  Sure enough, the plumber drove up 10 minutes later.  He knocked on the door.  “Who is it?” croaked the lady’s parrot from inside the house.  “It’s the plumber.”

 

“Who is it?” insisted the voice from inside the house.  “It’s the plumber!” hollered the repairman.

 

“Who is it?” insisted the voice again.  The veins stuck out on his neck as he bellowed at the top of his lungs, “It’s the plumber!”  Whereupon he suffered a heart attack and died on the spot.  The lady of the house returned shortly thereafter.  “Who is it?” she wondered aloud, seeing the fallen repairman on her front steps.  “It’s the plumber,” croaked the parrot from the living room.

 

As any teacher can tells us, parrots aren’t the only creatures that learn through repetition.  There is an old adage, “repetitio est mater studiorum” or “repetition is the mother of learning / studies.”  In today’s reading from Numbers, the Lord may seem to repeat Himself once too often, as he has Moses tell the Israelites once again about the sacrifice and festivals that they are to observe.  After all, haven’t we heard most of these worship regulations detail by detail many times by now?

 

Yes.  But our Lord knows how easily we humans forget.  And so He tells the Israelites again and again about their sin and the sacrifices and festivals that pointed forward to the work of their Savior.

 

Think about how many times you have heard about Jesus and what he has done for you.  The temptation is there to think that it is stuff we have heard so many times, we know it well enough.  But our Lord knows how easily we humans forget.  And so He tells us again and again about our sin and the work of our Savior, Jesus.

 

 

Lord, help us to remember that we are Christians only by your grace. We did nothing and can do nothing to deserve your love. Lord, give us courage and zeal every day to tell those in our lives about your love and forgiveness of sins. We praise and thank you Lord for this amazing free gift of grace. Amen.

 

 

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

 

 

Today’s Light Bible reading:  Numbers 28-30

 

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Today’s Evotion is an adaptation of Jane E. Fryar’s “Sharpen the Focus” for Wednesday, Week 13, in the Today’s Light Bible.