Be Still and Know Daily Bible Devotion

Exodus 23:8
Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.
I had never really thought about bribes until I spent two years living in India. There, we spoke about bribes on a regular basis. Soon after I arrived there, a servant girl was murdered near where we lived. Her body was found at the bottom of a well. I was very alarmed by this, as you can imagine, and was relieved when my Indian host told me that the murderer had been found. I asked what would happen to the murderer and my host explained straightforwardly that nothing would happen because he had bribed the police. I was deeply shocked.
Bribery takes place in many countries on a regular basis. In India, it was well known that the only way to get a delivery of full gas canisters was to bribe the delivery driver. Bribery was just a normal part of life, so this led to endless conversations as to how Christians should respond. Some Christians, including my wonderful host, were very clear that they would never bribe anyone. But many others acknowledged that it was an inevitable part of living in a poor society and that they would pay whatever it took to get the goods and services they needed. The people of Israel were clearly very familiar with this whole issue and knew the power of bribes to make even really good people twist the truth.
Bribery may not be a big problem in our lives, but we all live with the challenge of making wise, ethical decisions day by day. Whether it’s paying tradesmen in cash to help them avoid paying tax or making inflated insurance claims, we all live with the temptation to bend the truth. God calls us to be truthful and just, whatever the situation and however great the temptation.
Question
How would you respond if bribes were a regular expectation in our society?
Prayer
Lord God, help me to act in a way that will honour You, however great the pressures. Amen

Exodus 23:5
If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
These laws make fascinating reading. Here, the people are told that they have a responsibility to other people, whoever they are. If you see the donkey of your enemy struggling, the immediate ungodly response would be to say of the owner: “Serves him right. Just what he deserves.” But God declares that our responsibility is to give practical support to other people, whether they are our close friends or enemies.
This law reminds us of the words of Jesus, who went even further. We are not merely to be caring towards our neighbours – we have a responsibility to love them. This command, more than any other, shows that Jesus was turning normal human thinking upside down. Jesus seemed to take it for granted that His followers would have enemies, just as He Himself had throughout His ministry. There is no way of avoiding that, but the person who walks in Jesus’ steps has a completely different way of approaching enemies. The love that we have for our enemies might have no impact on them at all, but there is a possibility that it will bring healing and restoration, so we must keep on loving. However hideous the actions of our enemies, they are loved by God, and we need to model our lives on Him.
Following God is never easy. The demands of the Old Testament law were tough, but Jesus made them even tougher. It is crystal clear that we cannot obey any of them in our own strength. We are totally dependent on God’s power to enable us to live in His way. Let’s seek His Holy Spirit’s strength today as we live for Him, and look for creative ways of bringing His love to the people around us, whoever they are.
Question
In what way are you challenged by Jesus’ command to love your enemies?
Prayer
Lord God, help me to be loving towards everyone today, whoever they are. Amen

Exodus 23:2-3
When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice. And do not slant your testimony in favour of a person just because that person is poor.
Telling the truth is absolutely crucial in a healthy society. However uncomfortable and awkward the truth might be, it needs to be proclaimed and followed at all times, or society is in peril. That means we must not bend the truth, even when we are seeking to help vulnerable people. When I first read this verse, I thought it was a misprint. Surely the greatest danger is of bending the truth because a person is powerful and influential. But in saying that we mustn’t slant the truth in favour of a poor person, God is saying that we mustn’t play around with the truth, whoever the person might be and however vulnerable and needy they are.
We all seek to tell the truth. We have been brought up to do so, and we know it’s the correct thing to do. But these verses are right in identifying the pressure of the crowd. If we have views that are very different from those around us, we don’t want to stand out and feel stupid. If a particularly unpopular person at work is being unfairly criticised or mocked, it would be much easier to keep quiet than to stand up for them, but truth and justice would demand that we do precisely that.
Our conviction that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life is not a generally held view. However, if we are convinced that it is indeed the truth, we need to be willing to share it, however hostile or offensive the reaction. Speaking the truth is our calling as Christians, whatever the audience, subject or reaction.
Question
In what situations do you find it difficult to speak the truth?
Prayer
Loving Father, help me to be utterly truthful in everything that I say today. Amen

Exodus 20:13-17
[God said:] “You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely against your neighbour. You must not covet your neighbour’s house.”
These blunt commandments are even more brief in Hebrew, where a better translation would be “No murder. No adultery. No stealing.” God is setting out in quick succession the activities that must be stopped if the community is to thrive. Having respect for human life, marriage, property and truth-telling are foundational to a peaceful and harmonious society, and coveting can only be destructive.
On first reading, the trouble with these commandments is that they sound so negative. However, the reason for this is, quite clearly, because God’s desire is the best. He won’t settle for anything less than that, so He is ruthlessly opposed to anything that will spoil life for His much-loved children. The sanctions showed how serious He was. Murder would lead to capital punishment, adultery to stoning and the thief had to make full restitution.
As human beings, we never enjoy being told what we can’t do, but it is often a sign of love. My parents spent years telling me the things I shouldn’t do. Their rules were often annoying and frustrating, but there is no doubt that they were a sign of their love for me and my sisters. If they had allowed us to do whatever we wanted, it would have been the clearest sign that they didn’t care.
Coveting might well be the most challenging of these five commandments for us. In our society, coveting is continually encouraged. Every advertisement encourages us to want something, but God has a much better plan. He wants us to be content with what we have and to find peace in not continually rushing after more and more of everything.
Question
Which of these five commandments do you find most challenging and why?
Prayer
Lord God, I thank You for Your complete love for me. Help me to believe that Your commandments are always an expression of Your love. Amen

Exodus 20:8-10,12
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God…Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Here are the first two positive commandments. The previous three declared that we shouldn’t put any other gods in front of the true God, shouldn’t make idols and shouldn’t blaspheme. Having established those foundational principles, we are given positive guidance on how to build a secure, God-focused society. The first is by ordering our time properly, and the second is through building strong families.
Respect for the Sabbath is far more important than merely having a day off each week. That is undoubtedly a wise and healthy thing to do, but the principal reason for respecting the Sabbath is that by doing so we put God in His rightful place. The Sabbath day is dedicated to the Lord. It’s a day when we worship Him together and declare His greatness and power, and through it we are refreshed and strengthened in our faith for the other six days of the week. God has given us plenty of time to do our work, and the seventh day enables us to refocus our lives on God and on the things that matter most.
The Jewish celebration of Sabbath is an intensely family occasion, so it isn’t surprising that the next foundational commandment was one concerning parents. Honouring parents is so crucial that God declared that if the people obeyed it, they would live a long and full life. Everything hinges on the family. In days when many families are dispersed and rarely see one another, this is a challenge, but this does nothing to erase the importance of the commandment.
It has been wisely observed that God didn’t give ten suggestions but ten commandments. We disobey any of them at our peril. Ordering our time and family life in a godly way are not options but absolute necessities.
Question
In what ways do your sabbath days help you to refocus on God?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank You for the gift of the Sabbath and of my family. Help me to treasure them more and more. Amen