Devotion
Feed the world
David Jacobs
When I was young, I remember reading the stories of Moses avidly. The supernatural elements, moral protagonist, and evil antagonists would make for a great, Hollywood movie (as evidenced by the movie The Ten Commandments). I thought about how incredible it would have been to witness Moses call down plague after plague on the Egyptians, with each one increasing in severity. The Passover holiday, one of the most important in the Jewish calendar, is related to the tenth plague, when an angel of death "passes over" the Jewish households but kills the first-born son of every Egyptian home. Not wanting any more bloodshed, the Pharaoh finally relents, freeing the Jews, and has been celebrated ever since.
Many of the elements in place in Exodus related to Passover are mentioned in John 6. Jesus tells his disciples to gather the food and not waste any, just as Moses did in Exodus 16:19. There are other elements in John 6 as well, but the most important parallel between these verses and Exodus is how Christ and Moses were viewed after these events. As verse 14 explains: "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world." Non-believers have been converted, the same as the Pharaoh with Moses. Jesus and Moses fed the hungry and freed their people. How can we do the same in our lives?
Prayer
We have been called to feed the hungry. This can be taken in the literal sense as well as the spiritual. We may lack the natural resources to feed everyone but we do not lack the spiritual. Go forth to Love the Lord, love the people, serve the Lord, and serve the people. Leave everything else to God. Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
