If you are weird like me you may have looked into the origin of words. I was curious and I wanted to know why we would say “goodbye” when we would leave, and to my surprise good by came from a shorthand way of saying “God be with ye.” There are several other words that I have looked up in the past because to me they did not fit with what I thought they should. One that may seem easy to understand would be the word holiday. When we look at the word we can easily see the two words that make it up, holy and day. In fact, one of my nieces read it out as holy-day while she was learning to read. When we look at the modern definition of it, we can see that holiday more means a day free from most labor. This word though can have more significance than we usually assign it.
In Nehemiah 8:9-12, we can read about the people’s reaction to Ezra reading the Law. In the first eight verses of this chapter, we can read about Ezra standing on a platform, and all the people rising to hear the word of the Law read out and explained to them. When the people heard it, they began to weep and understood that they needed to follow the Lord, and Nehemiah and all the others who were in charge declared it to be a holy day. When they did this, it was not because it was Labor Day or some other holiday, but because it was a day that they had dedicated to the Lord.
While we have been in lockdown and have not been able to get out and do the things that we would like to do, how many days have been holy days for us? Have we dedicated any days to focus on God and on the things that he has given us? Have we thought about how wonderful it will be when we can gather again to worship with the saints? This week dedicate some time to God. It does not have to be a whole day if you choose, but set some time out where you will think about God’s promises, God’s people, and worship God.
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