God gave you a non-renewable gift today of 86,400 seconds. I suppose that’s why we call it the present.
God very particularly had decreed that the Passover, recounting Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage by the blood of the lamb, was to be celebrated in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at dusk. The day was so important that their calendar had been rearranged for the event. Originally Israel’s year began in September (the Hebrew month of Tishri), with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah (Heb, “the head of the year”). But God decreed that the exodus from Egypt was the actual birth of the nation, so the first day of Abib (our Mar-Apr) would now be the “beginning of months” (Ex 12:2). Like every believer, the Jewish nation had two beginnings! With the temple restored, King Hezekiah now longed to hold the Passover. But he had a problem: “they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem” (2 Chron 30:3). This had not been on anyone’s schedules “since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner” (v 5). Now everything was happening quickly, but not quickly enough to meet God’s prescribed date. Should they wait a full year to get back on schedule? No, “the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month” (v 2). This was willingness to please the Lord, not willfulness to please themselves. It was their first opportunity to obey, and they couldn’t wait to do it. We’ll see how this all played out in the next episode, but is there a lesson for us here? Simply this: God’s word is now; the devil encourages delay. Today is the day of salvation, and of service, too. We don’t have any tomorrows. Act, while it is called Today.