Remember and Tell

"You shall tell your child on that day, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.' It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips; for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year." - Exodus 13:8-10 (NRSV) These words were to be spoken at dinner. It was not just any dinner, but one where the family gathered to remember the day that the people had come out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord had brought them there by the strength of his hand. It was the day of no leavened bread. It was the day of remembering. And as unleavened bread was eaten, the father would say what God had, through Moses, told him to say: It's because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.” And it would be a sign for them, a sign on their hand and on their forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord would be on their lips. It was to remind them of the strong hand of the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt. “Keep this ordinance,”  the children would be told. Keep it at its proper time, not just once, but from year to year, because in remembering It will turn our hearts to God. It will remind us that it is of God's grace that we live. It is because of what the Lord has done for us that we are free and that we are people of purpose. And so it is that we set up monuments and reminders in our lives to turn our hearts to God again and again. ---------------------------------------- Dig Deeper into the Bible at https://tomsims.substack.com/s/bible-chat