Musing - How To Do Our Best for the Lord?

Hebraic Musing - How To Do Our Best for the Lord?

A story from Jewish tradition: 

A group of Jewish sages was having a discussion regarding the most important verse in the Bible. One sage suggested, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” Deut. 6:4.  Indeed, belief in one God is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith.  But another sage proposed, “love your neighbor as yourself” Lev. 19:18 because belief in God is not enough. One must also act appropriately toward man.  Finally, another sage made a third suggestion.  He said, “Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight” Exod. 29:39 which refers to the twice daily sacrifice that was offered in the Temple.

The third choice may seem strange, but even more strange is that the other sages agreed with him!  Why?

There is a deeper meaning to the verse about sacrifices. It’s about consistency – doing the same thing day in and day out. One sacrifice is offered in the morning and another at twilight – every single day. This sacrifice, called “the daily sacrifice,” is symbolic of consistent righteous behavior.

It’s one thing to have exemplary faith in a particular situation or to perform an extraordinary act of kindness at one time. But righteousness is not determined by what we do once in a while. Righteousness is determined by all the little things that we do day in and day out, whether we feel like it or not, rain or shine, every single day of our lives.

The last sage was suggesting that what we do is not as important as how consistent we are at doing it. Real spirituality is constant and consistent. Otherwise it’s as fleeting as a rainbow which is beautiful only while still in the sky.

Notice how the concept of consistency plays out in Psalm 101:8.  King David asserts that “Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land.”  David was emphasizing that he did his job every single day with the same enthusiasm as on the first day.  He didn’t take a break on Tuesday because he did a good job on Monday, and he didn’t skip Thursday because he had a late night on Wednesday.  David was constant and consistent in his service to the Lord and that made him righteous.

Another view of David’s inspiration is seen in his Psalm 145:2  “Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”    Like David, we need to wake up every morning, jump out of bed ready and willing to be our best, even if we are tired or uninspired; especially if we are tired or uninspired!  If we are consistent and give 100 percent every day of our lives, then God will be there for us, too.

The early church grew because of a consistency we see in Acts 2:46-47 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  NIV

Point to ponder

If we work hard six days of the week,
will we really appreciate the opportunity to rest on a Sabbath with the Lord.

♫  “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before…” ♫ 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   February 21, 2017

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Inspired and excerpted from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s Any Given Morning   January 8, 2017