Devotion – Saturday, 13 February
Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Psalms, “May God be gracious to us and bless us,” Psalm 67 verse 1. The opening verse of this psalm is patterned on the Aaronic blessing, the words that God revealed to Moses to be used by Aaron, the priest, and his sons, to bless Israel. “The Lord bless you and keep up: the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you favour, the Lord lifts his countenance upon you and gives you peace,” Numbers Chapter Six, verse 24 to 26. This prayer is used in many traditions to bless the departing believers after the service. In this blessing one receives an all encompassing gift from God. We are blessed with his protections, his eye upon us to bestow his favour on us, his grace that is not merited, but given regardless in his love and his presence with us, to secure that we will be living on earth in peace. Let us pray this prayer for ourselves and those around us, wherever we find ourselves, for God is gracious and wants to bestow to us his ultimate gift through his Son. “Peace, not as the world gives, I leave with you,” John 14 verse 27. The English composer, John Rutter, composed a beautiful hymn on the Aaronic Blessing, “May the Lord bless you and keep you.” It is truly balm to our souls to hear God’s words prayed, sung and used in praise and blessing. God gifts us with his blessings daily so that we may enjoy his peace.
The Gospel of John draws a picture of Jesus Christ as the One who has been with God from the beginning, the living Word of God, the Logos. Christ is therefore the Word of God in human form, living or dwelling in us and making his tabernacle on earth! Within this completeness and perfection of the Father, Jesus Christ gifts us this perfect peace that can dwell in us, and live and “tent” with us, even in times of great tribulation. “For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received (all had a share and we were all supplied with) one grace after another, and spiritual blessing and even favour upon favour and gift, heaped upon gift,” John Chapter One verse 16, (Amplified Bible). God’s words created the universe and its abundance, and Christ’s last words proclaimed, “It is finished,” heralding in the deliverance of the world and her people from the decay of death and doom and the dawning of peace. The Gospel of John gives us already in the first Chapter a glimpse on the fulfilment of Christ’s work on earth and the gift that humanity will receive as God’s grace and his blessings are poured out on each one in full measure. “The earth has yielded its harvest in evidence of God’s approval. God, our own God of Israel, will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall reverently fear him,” Psalm 67 verses 6 to 7. When Jesus died, He was the corn that fell to the earth and out of him the harvest of believers was raised. We have received the blessing that the prophets and psalmist, evangelists and apostles prophesied and preached through the ages. Jesus Christ is the gift that God bestows to us. He is the one who quietened the raging storm that the disciples experienced on the lake. First He quieted their restless inner being, “Do not be afraid!” Then He called to the waves, the billows and the winds and told them to be quiet. Immediately they obeyed their Creator, Lord and Master. May you experience this peace of the Lord, the peace that is beyond our understanding, the peace that we cannot receive through the gifts and promises of the world, but only through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the peace of the World and He promises you his grace and his favour so that you will have peace from within.
Father God, we praise you and thank you that you bless us and keep us and make your face shine upon us with your grace and favour and your peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever, Amen.
