FCA Devo

Creation

a brief word of encouragement from a familiar story

when God creates things, he makes them good

he creates humanity in his image

calls humanity very good

gives humanity two jobs- rule and multiply

Sabbath

Hebrew writers were very clever

he first verse has 7 Hebrew words in it, 7 times 1. You might notice the second verse has 14 Hebrew words in it, 7 times 2. You might notice that the word earth appears 21 times in the poem, 7 times 3. There are 35 words in the seventh verse, seven times five. God is mentioned 35 times in the poem, 7 times 5. It was so is a phrase that shows up seven times. And the phrase and God saw shows up 7 times in the poem.

day 1 correlates with day 4, day 2-5, day 3-6

seasons at the center and Sabbath at the end

celebration and rest are the heart and the culmination of this story

Application

You are the most anxious generation by the numbers

the most activities, the most access, the most difficulty navigating subjectivity and objectivity, the most temptation to compare yourself to unreachable ideals

In all of these things it is so easy to feel inadequate, to work and toil after an ideal that isn’t even real

when God creates mankind and calls it very good, have they done anything yet?

God commands this to be a reminder that they take part in every week and multiple times throughout the year

so that, no matter what has happened or what circumstances his people find their selves in, they can stop, rest, and remember

your being made good from the beginning, your potential for good in the future is more important than any identity that you or other people could try to impose on you

God has called you very good, has made you capable of making more good, and invites you to rest with him in that