Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Legacy" Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Legacy" Wednesday, 19 February 2014
These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ~~Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Garth Callaghan is battling cancer. This is his second go-around with the disease, and his doctors say he has less than an eight percent chance of living for another five years. 
Five years is important to Callaghan.
Five years is important because that's how long it will take for his daughter, Emma, to graduate from high school. When his little girl was in kindergarten, Callaghan started writing messages to his daughter on her lunch napkins. Some time ago Callaghan promised he would continue to keep those precious thoughts and sayings coming.
And, in spite of his future prognosis, it is a promise which he intends to keep.
Callaghan did some investigating and found out his daughter had 826 school days before her graduation. With that figure as his goal, he began to write. As I am composing this devotion, I can tell you he has finished 740 of those brief epistles.
Callaghan says, "At the end of the day, these notes might be the only thing my daughter has left of me."
Callaghan seems like a standup kind of guy. I say that because he is a man who believes in keeping his promises. That alone is a pretty unique quality. Still, there's more to this story than that of a father who believes his word ought to mean something. Callaghan is also to be commended because he has actually spent some time thinking about what is important and what valuable truths he wants his daughter to know.
Among some of those valuable truths are sayings like
* "Dear Emma, Everything in moderation. Except Awesome. You can never have too much Awesome. Love, Dad"
or
* "Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda
There is no doubt that those are wonderful bits of wisdom. Still, I hope Callaghan, and every parent, also shares quotes such as these:
* "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
* "Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God ... giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:10, 12-14).
Yes, it would be good if Callaghan shared such things with his daughter. It would be good if we all did.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, among the many things which I share with others, may Jesus always be first on the list. In the Savior's Name. Amen.
Pastor KlausIn Christ I remain His servant and yours, 
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today Read:
Exodus 29:1 “This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water. 5 You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; 6 and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. 9 You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 “You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 12 You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin offering.
15 “You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. 18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
19 “You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 21 You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 22 Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. 24 You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. 25 You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
26 “You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. 27 You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: 28 and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering: and it shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. 30 Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.
31 “You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy. 34 If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “You shall do so to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38 “Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening: 40 and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah[a] of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning, and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. 43 There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.
30:1 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a cubit,[b] and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. 4 You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. 8 When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel[c] of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs[d]); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. 14 Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel,[e] when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. 20 When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”
22 Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels;[f] and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; 24 and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. 25 You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29 You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 31 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”
34 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: there shall be an equal weight of each; 35 and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy: 36 and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy. 37 The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. 38 Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 29:40 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel
b. Exodus 30:2 a cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man's arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
c. Exodus 30:13 a shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces
d. Exodus 30:13 a gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains
e. Exodus 30:15 a shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces
f. Exodus 30:23 a shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 500 shekels is about 5 kilograms or about 11
Mark 2:1 When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house. 2 Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. 3 Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 4 When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. 5 Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.”
12 He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
13 He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he taught them. 14 As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him.
15 He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. 16 The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
18 John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”
19 Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then will they fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made. 22 No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.”
23 He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields, and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
25 He said to them, “Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry—he, and those who were with him? 26 How he entered into God’s house when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?” 27 He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
~~~~~~~
The Lutheran Hour
660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63141 
1(800)876-9880
~~~~~~~