Omer Devotional Day 20

April 19 at sundown - Day 20
Today is day 20 of counting the Omer 
Today is day 20 out of Egypt
Today is day 20 of Messiah Resurrected

The Crowning Jewel of Creation (Genesis 2:1-2)

1 So the heavens and the earth were completed along with their entire array.
2 God completed—on the seventh day—His work that He made, and He ceased—on the seventh day—from all His work that He made.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work that God created for the purpose of preparing.

Reflect:

In synagogues everywhere around the world and here at Restoration, the Shabbat is the most important day of the week. In the book of Leviticus (chapter 23) we see that Shabbat is the first holiday listed because it happens every week! God created Shabbat as the crowning jewel on the creation dialogue at the beginning of the book of Beresheet (Genesis). There are six days of intense activity, with all of creation being born. Right along with this intensity is God’s command to be “fruitful and multiply.” This sounds a lot like our everyday lives, doesn’t it? As we identify our passions, they begin to drive us to pursue them... We become too compelled to act! We must remember that in God’s plan for creation we weren’t meant to just churn in non-stop activity. God ordained the Shabbat and blessed it as a day when mankind is called to rest and remember their Creator, but it also has addtional meaning. Adonai didn’t create the Shabbat just for man to remember Him; He also intended for us to know that God remembers us as well!

I recently saw this principle on display while on a medical outreach trip with Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI) in Wiloso, Ethiopia among the Beta Israel (Jews currently located between the Amahara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia). These people live in abject poverty; they have little to eat, their water supply is putrid, and they suffer persecution from their neighbors. The Messianic believers in this area are even more persecuted than their Jewish brothers because of their commitment to following Yeshua. On top of all this, their government ignores them. It would be easy to think that God had forgotten these people, leaving them in a kind of permanent exile. On our last Shabbat in Wiloso as we rested, it occurred to me that God had remembered these “forgotten people.” He had used the team I was with to show them that He never forgets His creation! May we remember that He will never forget us, either!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your Shabbat. We want to take the time to remember all You’ve done for us. Thank You for Your faithfulness to us and others as well. Amen. 

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At Restoration, we have made it a priority to seek God first in prayer. During this season of counting of the Omer, we have decided to do this collectively as a congregation in the days leading up to Shavuot. Together, we want to trust in His power to impact our lives, our congregation, our city, and our world. The last 10 days we will encourage a corporate time of fasting and prayer, which starts the evening of May 9 and ends the evening of May 19. The conclusion of this season of prayer will culminate in a congregational picnic on the 50th day, the day of Shavuot - Sunday, May 20 at noon.