For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Luke 13
Jesus healed on the Sabbath with intention! He did it as a physical demonstration of the Sabbath’s purpose. He explains it in His response to the synagogue leader. “Then should not this woman…be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” (From Lk. 13:16). The Sabbath is God’s rest. It is that moment when we let go of our efforts and allow Him to set us free from what binds us. Had the religious leaders recognized this truth, they would have known that there was no better time than the Sabbath for Jesus to heal people.
Dan. 9-10
I noticed something this morning in Daniel’s prayer that I have overlooked before. I noticed a behavior that I have seen in King David in the Psalms. Daniel said that He turned to God in prayer and petition because he was aware of Jeremiah’s prophecy. From a brief search, I discovered that the prophesied 70 years of desolation was coming to an end. Thus, Daniel prayed for God to keep His promise. I have a few things to note about that.
- If you want to know your prayers will be answered, praying for God to keep His promise is a sure way to do that. But if we know God is going to keep His promises, why bother to pray? First, to remind us of God’s faithfulness. Beyond that, continue with my next points.
- Daniel did not take God’s mercy and His promises for granted. Instead, he humbly acknowledged the righteousness of God’s actions toward His people. He likewise acknowledged that God’s promise would be fulfilled only because of His great mercy. And he wanted to make sure they were ready to receive that mercy. His prayer was an intentional act of seeking God’s favor through a repentant heart.
- Daniel’s prayer was not just for the restoration of the people. He prayed, “turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill.” (From Dan. 9:17). He prayed for the restoration of God’s presence with His people and for His holy name, which His people had defiled.
- Daniel got so much more than what he realized he was asking for. God sent an angel to tell him that restoration was indeed coming, not just for the current time, but for all humanity and history.
So we pray God’s promises to keep our hearts humble and repentant. We pray to recognize God’s mercy and not take it for granted. We pray to exalt God and to prepare our hearts to receive His power and presence.
Ps. 139
If somebody had you hemmed in behind and before and there was no way to escape them, what would you think? It sounds trapped to me, like I would be terrified and desiring freedom. But what if that somebody was wholly good and trustworthy? And what if the surroundings were dangerous; full of deadly traps? Suddenly trapped and not free sounds like secure and protected. And so it is for David in this Psalm. When we likewise put our full trust in God, then we, too, can know what it means to be “free” in the enveloping, ever present, all-knowing, mighty hand of God.