Devotional for December 8, 2021
Morning Exodus 20:1-10
Noon Psalms 125
Evening 1 Peter 1:17-21
The first commandment of the moral law has to do with the original paternity of humans. God, the creator, and maker of man is his Father; and as such he must be loved, honored, and revered. In society, when a marriage disintegrates and children have a second set of parents, the children often lose the value of parenthood; nothing and no one else will replace their original father. The same happens in our spiritual life, when we divert our love for our Father and we place our love for another god above all things, call that god – money, self-confidence, etc., we lose the true value of fatherhood. Paternity means provision, direction, advice, guidance. For this reason, the Eternal Father has decreed that the beginning of morality is to not have other gods before Him: this frees man from a disappointment in his life and from placing his trust in things that vanish. Our security is in knowing that we are not orphans on this planet, that we have an eternal Father who constantly watches over our needs. We must accept God’s paternity to have a stable and secure life in the middle of an insecure world.
I will not be afraid; I have a Father in heaven!
Sabbath School Book
– translated by Maria Elena Cardona
Morning Exodus 20:1-10
1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Noon Psalms 125
1 They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.
Evening 1 Peter 1:17-21
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Prayer Guide: [México-Chetumal] and [Panamá-Monjarás]
Annual Bible reading: 1 Timothy 3, 4, 5
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