Daily Devotion for Day 36 of Lent 2016

Scripture Reading: Exodus 35:30-36:38 (NRSV)

"You've given enough!"

When has a pastor ever proclaimed this to the congregation?  I think it might be a sign of the end times if you ever heard it.

This is what Moses tells the Israelites though.  They have brought more than enough to complete the work on the Tabernacle.  As this was surely written down at a later date from the time it actually happened, I wonder if this could have been a golden recollection where things always seem sweeter in the past?

Or maybe it could have been an admonishment in a way to the people for whom it was received: see how well your ancestors gave?  If you could be more like them, we wouldn't have all these problems!

Or maybe it happened just as it was written.  Maybe the people were so happy with receiving their freedom that they gave joyfully.  Maybe they were terrified at seeing how many of them had been killed over the worship of a false idol in the golden calf.

What does this image evoke for you?

Regardless of how this account came to be, we have it now.  What do we do with it?  Can we get to a place in the church or in our lives where we claim that we have been given enough?  That all is good?

One consideration out of this passage is, "What would it take for me to be satisfied?"










Photo by 401 (K) 2012 via Flickr.com, used by permission under the Creative Commons license.