Month: December 2023

By Joe Slater – Via Bulletin Gold

What do you suppose God’s people were doing on New Year’s
Day roughly 3500 years ago? Would you believe they were
putting up the tabernacle? “On the first day of the first month,
you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting” (Exodus
40:1). “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year,
on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up”
(40:17).

Earlier in Exodus (chapters 25-31) God had given Moses
explicit and detailed instructions about the tabernacle and all of
its furnishings, beginning with this exhortation: *According to
all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the
pattern of all its furnishings, just so shall you make it” (25:9).
The Lord repeated this command several times as He specified
the dimensions, materials, design, etc., of the tabernacle and its
furnishings. “And see to it that you make them according to the
pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (25:40). “And
you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which
you were shown on the mountain” (26:30). “As it was shown
you on the mountain, so shall they make it” (27:8).

Moses and the Israelites took God seriously! Thus Moses
did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he
did” (Exodus 40:16).

The tabernacle and things associated with it were a shadow of
the better things Jesus Christ established in the New Covenant.
The Hebrews writer taught that we ought to be even more
diligent to be faithful in the New Covenant than Moses and the
Israelites were in the Old Covenant (Hebrews 2:1-4; 10:28-31).

In this new year, let us renew our determination to follow
God’s pattern set forth in the New Testament!

By Joe Slater – Via Bulletin Gold

“What do you want for Christmas?” I already have my two front
teeth, so mny stock reply is, “I don’t know” (shrug). That frustrates
the ones asking, but it’s true! I have no pressing needs. Even my
wish list is pretty much empty.

Each passing year makes it clearer that the things I really need
and want can’t be purchased with money! As our Savior so aptly
put it, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things
he possesses” (Luke 12:15). I want the presence of (not presents
from) my family. I want their health and safety, and above all
their close walk with God.

I don’t need more belongings, but I definitely need a sense of
belonging. God Himself said it isn’t good for us to be alone
(Genesis 2:18). Family fills that need for belonging in marvelous
ways! For that very reason, Satan relentlessly attacks the nuclear
family. As early as Eden he pitted Adam and Eve against each
other. Today his agents seek to redefine what a family is.
Destruction of the family opens the door to finding that sense of
belonging in unwholesome places.

As precious as earthly families are, I also need to belong to
God’s spiritual family. The love, fellowship, and support of
brothers and sisters in Christ surpass anything money can buy.
By myselfI won’t survive, but as we mutually strive to serve God
our Father and Jesus our Elder Brother, we will enjoy certain
victory! Satan throws roadblocks the church’s way just as he does
with earthly families, tempting us to find our sense of belonging
in worldly organizations or even false religious groups. Let us
remain steadfast!

I hope you get just what you want and need for Christmas: not
mere belongings, but belonging.