Week 10 Friday
Today God gives the Ten Commandments, Psalm 47 calls us to shout for joy, and Jesus opens the Scriptures to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Exodus 20-21
📖 What are we reading?: The Ten Commandments, given to Israel at Sinai, followed by further laws, including instructions on the treatment of slaves.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He calls His people to a holy standard, and even in the difficult laws on slavery, demands kind and fair treatment - notice how Jesus later turns 21:23-25's teaching around.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: The morality of the 10 commandments still applies today – although Jesus essentially deepens our understanding of them in His sermon on the mount. Notice Moses' words in 20:20 - a powerful realisation about the purpose of God's testing.
Looking for some extra info?
📝 A devotion on how Exodus 20 brought a staunch Jew to Jesus, "An Honest Question".
📝 A devotion on God testing people, from Exodus 20:20.
➡️ The bigger picture: Exodus, meaning "departure", was written by Moses around 1400 BC, and tells of Israel's miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt - a rescue Israel was called to remember for generations, and a picture of Christ's greater deliverance from sin.
Psalm 47
📖 What are we reading?: A lovely upbeat song of praise, calling us to worship.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is the great King over all the earth, worthy of shouts of joy.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: People of God sing praises to Him, as verse 6 repeats! Will you praise Him in song today?
Looking for some extra info?
♫ An uplifting praise song based on this Psalm, to get you singing today.
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Luke 24:13-35
📖 What are we reading?: Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, walking and talking with them without them recognising Him, until He breaks bread with them and their eyes are opened.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: Jesus patiently walks alongside those who don't yet understand, opening the Scriptures to reveal Himself.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Weren't their hearts burning within them as He talked with them on the road? May our hearts burn the same way as we spend time in His Word today.
Looking for some extra info?
🎤 Luke preaches on Jesus' conversation with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
♫ A fun song about that same passage, "Down the Road to Emmaus".
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a Greek physician and companion of Paul, around AD 60-62. It is the most detailed account of Jesus' life, and is especially attentive to the poor, to women, and to outcasts.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You for Your commandments that guide us, and for testing us to draw us closer to You; let our hearts sing with praise like this Psalm; and thank You that, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, You open our eyes to see You in Your Word. Amen.
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