Read
Deuteronomy 31:9-13
… when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.                                              Verse 11 (NIV)

Reflect
I remember reading bedtime stories to our kids. I was always looking for something new and different but there were favourites that had to be read over and over again. Did you ever wonder why they wanted the same one again and again? Perhaps, because it was a sense of security. The story ended the same every time, everything was as it should be, life was good.

Every seven years during the Feast of Tabernacles, the law was read for all Israel to hear. It was the same story each time. God had brought the people out of slavery in Egypt and had travelled with them through the desert. God spoke to them at Sinai and had brought the people to the promised land. Nothing in the story ever changed. God was still good and righteous. God was still taking care of the people. Life was good.

It’s good to hear the old story again and again. That’s why God’s people read Scripture regularly at home and in church. Men, women, children, and visitors who enter hear the good news. It’s affirming for everyone’s faith.

Like children at bedtime, we can’t hear that story too often. We need to be reminded of God’s goodness and our responsibilities as his servants, to be reassured that God’s world is in order, that God is still in charge. After all, there are other stories out there that dispute God’s goodness, and stories that say we are not servants of God but masters of our own world. There are stories that there is no God, and no one is in control. However, by the work of the Spirit of God in us, we know that the old, old story is the truth and it is reassuring to know that HE is good, and HE loves us.

Let me read the story just one more time!

Pray
Thank you, heavenly Father, for the wonderful words of life. May we never tire of hearing the story of your love and faithfulness to us. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

One More Time

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