Please Note

You are viewing the old version of the Forward Movement prayer site, which is no longer updated. It is possible that content may not reflect the latest updates, and may contain errors.

Daily Prayer: a resource of Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for May 6, 2022

We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, you can log in to Disqus with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account; just click "Login," or the appropriate logo below. Or, you can sign up for a Disqus account; just use the entry form below, or click the "D" logo to start the process. You can find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page. You can also listen to the Forward Day by Day podcast anywhere you find podcasts!

Please note: you won't be able to use the Comment feature unless you enable Javascript in your browser. In general, your overall experience on the Daily Prayer site will be greatly enhanced if you enable Javascript.

FRIDAY, May 6

Exodus 24:8 Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, "See the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."

We sold lamb frozen in little white packages, and I helped the butcher with the harvest. After I had the lamb held down just right, in one swift motion, the butcher cut the veins, arteries, and trachea and then snapped the spinal cord in the neck. In an instant, the lamb was dead, and there was no going back. The technique is slightly different from Kosher or Halal slaughter, but in all three, there is no going back.

Many of us are baffled by ritual sacrifices. In this passage, the blood poured out is a sign that there is no going back. To seal the covenant, Moses makes sure each person present is marked with the blood as a reminder that the Great I Am is their God and they are his people.

We may like our faith packaged in pristine butcher paper, but the blood of the Lamb spilled for us, making the way to the promised land. And there’s no going back.

MOVING FORWARD: Did this meditation make you squirm? Do you see your walk with Jesus as straightforward and sanitized or messy and risky? How do these verses shape your understanding?

PRAY for the Diocese of Leicester (England)

Ps 105:1-22 * 105:23-45 | Exodus 24:1-18 | Colossians 2:8-23 | Matthew 4:12-17