...Mungu Yupo...God is with you...

“14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly; no work shall be done on those days; only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance. 18 In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you shall eat unleavened bread. 19 For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether an alien or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread” Exodus 12:14-20.

I absolutely love this opening sentence of today’s text: “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you” Exodus 12:14. The continuous, annual, celebration of Passover is one of the most important days in the history of human civilization, in my humble opinion, because to remember something (of significance) is to keep it alive in our hearts and souls. Passover is the feast day of remembering that YAHWEH was alive and present in the life of the Israelites who were enslaved and oppressed by Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

The fact that God was present throughout their suffering is the Hope of the World for all of us. We are never alone, no matter what we do or how difficult our life may be.

In Africa, the people with whom I lived used to say to me, “Mungu Yupo!” “God is with us!” As they traversed through most difficult times in their lives, they knew God was with them. The same is true with Israel. God has always been with them.

I hope and pray that, whatever you are suffering with today in your life, whatever is causing you shame or sorrow, whatever is bring you to tears, you will remember that God is right there with you. So turn to God this day and pray in gratitude that God hears you, knows you, is with you, and loves you. God suffered, died, was buried, and rose from the dead for you, to assure you that He will never abandon you.

Hebrews 13:5 says it so clearly: “5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for Jesus said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’” Hebrews 13:5. I love John 14:18: “18 Jesus said, ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.’” The annual Passover keeps alive the most fundamental truth of all, namely, that in our most sin-filled and troublesome and painful times in your life, we are never alone. God is with us and God will never abandon us. 

Take this to prayer today, and no matter how difficult your life is today, never forget that GOD IS WITH YOU! You have a God to whom you can turn and speak with and lean on. He will never forsake you or abandon you. This is his promise!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.