December 18 Jesus is Lord: Ex. 3:2; 20:1

Jesus is Lord. Today's passages are well, shall we say, sparse. Less is more. Short on words. The first passage - "There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up."  The second one said even less. "God spoke all these words."

Uuuuuhhmmm. So, what do the two verses have to do with today's Jesse Tree Symbol - Jesus is Lord?Well, the obvious link to the first one is that an angel of the LORD (caps included) is a direct link. I think maybe, this is the part where we link the Old Testament to Jesus. In fact, after a little research, I found out that these symbols are "typos" or "types" of Christ. The preview of Christ. So, the symbols for today are the burning bush or the cement slabs of the Ten Commandments. I'm hoping the Holy Spirit is with me for my interpretations or "types" associated with Jesus.

The burning bush as a symbol of Christ is the way His presence can truly burn in our hearts. When we listen to Jesus' word, it is all consuming, yet we are not consumed. Our hearts can burn, but we are not harmed. Or, at least, I wish I felt like that all the time. Sometimes, too many other things get in the way and the fire seems to be just embers. Other times, when I am able to focus only on Christ, the fire burns almost out of control. I wish I was a faithful enough person to always have that fire stoked. That's something I need to work on. 

The stone tablets. The commandments. The rules. In some ways, Jesus was the rule breaker. He didn't come along to follow the rules like a mindless sheep. Instead, he shed light on the rules - like a shepherd. He never went against the 10 commandments. Instead, He questioned the interpretations some put on those commandments and outright rebelled against the nonsense some of the pharisees tried to make as laws. There are 10 pretty straightforward laws. It's man who put the gray area into these laws. What would the world be like if everyone followed the commandments? As Lord, Jesus is the Law. If we follow what He says - "He spoke all these words" - our life will be pretty golden. 

So, for today, yes, Jesus is Lord. He's our fire inside. He's our law. My prayer today is to be able to stoke that fire and follow His commands. And if I can follow commandment number one first of all, that fire should be blazing!