Core essentials

Pamela Kennedy July 19, 2024 3 2

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Exodus 12: 14-20 (NRSVA)

14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly; no work shall be done on those days; only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance. 18 In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you shall eat unleavened bread. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether an alien or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.

It takes time for yeast to do its work, and time is something that the Israelites just don’t have. Through Moses and Aaron, the Lord gives instructions that the Israelites must bake — and celebrate with — unleavened bread. In fact, this is to become a festival for them annually. The Lord would have them remember, for generations to come, the day of their rescue from Egypt, and the felt immediacy of it.

The Israelites still had bread, just without the luxury of time baked in. As we continue in our journey of faith and life, there come points where we need to pare back. What are your core essentials? For me, it’s about rhythm: rhythm in time with God, rhythm in work-life balance, rhythm in family life. There have been times where particular expressions of each of those things have needed to be set aside to make room for something new. Might there be anything that you need to consider?

Prayer:

Lord,

I hold before You my schedule, my priorities, and I do it openly, honestly.

What are the things that occupy most of my time and my thought? Where do I need to pare back?

Where do I need to set things aside?

What new things might You want to add?

Thank You that You know just what I need.

Amen