Daily Devotional

My son was in the Buchanan High School Band. Every summer, the week leading up to the Fourth of July, the Buchanan Band parents would sell fireworks out of a booth at the Walmart parking lot on Herndon and Clovis. It was usually excruciatingly hot! Jenn and I were part of the leadership team, and as we sold the fireworks, we found great joy in seeing the excitement in the eyes of parents and their kids as they prepared for this great American holiday.

Why do we set off fireworks on the Fourth of July? It’s a tradition dating back to the start of our nation. In 1777, one year after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the anniversary was celebrated in Philadelphia with a parade, speeches, and fireworks. Boston was the first city to declare July 4th an official holiday in 1783. Congress made it a national holiday in 1870 referring to it as Independence Day.

On April 22nd, 2024, Passover begins at sundown. Passover was declared by God to be the first month of the first year on Israel’s calendar (Exodus 12:2, 14). The tenth day would be their Independence Day! Passover followed the 10th plague. The Egyptian firstborn would die—“judgment on all the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12)—but God had determined to preserve His people Israel from this judgment. They were to sacrifice a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts. The angel of death would “pass over” the house and spare the family that resided there (Exodus 12:7, 13). The lamb would then be roasted and served as the main dish of the Passover meal.

They made bread without yeast as another symbol during that meal (Exodus 12:15). No yeast was an induction that they were to hurry out of Egypt, because the Egyptians wanted them gone, immediately! The absence of yeast in the dough came to mean holiness, purity, or consecration.

So, Moses declared Passover to be a national holiday in Israel, celebrating their future in the Promised Land (Exodus 12:22–27). It was out of Moses’ complete trust in God’s promise that he made this declaration. And he showed his faith through his obedience. He told the elders of Israel to go and carry out the instructions (Exodus 12:21–23). The Israelites were to remember the mighty work of God freeing them from captivity in Egypt. And that’s why Jewish people still celebrate Passover to this day.

As Christians, we know that the Israelites were saved by the lamb’s blood on their doorposts, but Jesus, God’s Son, the Lamb of God, came and gave His life as a sacrifice on the cross, shedding His sinless blood, for our sins. So everyone who believes in Him will be saved. If you’ve never accepted Christ for your salvation, do it now.