Day 30 – September 30
First Reading Nehemiah 8. Ezra reads the book of the of Moses and everyone bowed down, prostrated themselves, and then everyone wept as they heard the words of the law. Then Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites had to tell the people: “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep.” and later “Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”
Now the people were weeping over the words and how Ezra interpreted words for them. And I am so very curious as to everything that was said. But what also strikes me is taking these two quotes out of context — and applying them to life in general.
And how if I have a good day I’m all gung-ho about “Yeah, of course don’t be sad!” But if the day is a really rough and sad day it just hurts all the more to hear “Don’t be sad. Don’t cry.”
But regardless if my day feels good or bad the lesson is in those words — “Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” — Especially when it is hard to rejoice if you can remember just how much the Lord loves and cares for you then you will be able to rejoice — you can draw strength from Him to get thru the bad times just by remembering/knowing of His love for you.
