The Kiss

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  “Ryabovitch pulled the bed-clothes over his head, curled himself up in bed, and tried to gather together the floating images in his mind and to combine them into one whole. But nothing came of it. He soon fell asleep, and his last thought was that someone had caressed him and made him happy—that something extraordinary, foolish, but joyful and delightful, had come into his life. The thought did not leave him even in his sleep. When he woke up the sensations of oil on his neck and the chill of peppermint about his lips had gone, but joy flooded his heart just as the day before.” The Kiss By Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)

Happy New Year!

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I hope you didn't look at your calendar but if you did, you would notice that today is Rosh Hashana. This holiday is one Israel’s calendar, one festival of three celebrated in the seventh month. Students of scripture would call this the “Feast of Trumpets.” Many today would call this “New Years” so if you need to “start over,” this is a great time to do it. Why wait for January 1?

The Torah instructs (the book of Numbers, chapter 29) that this is a day of worship, sacrifice and suspension of labor. Such a time of refreshment intends that one literally stop whatever is keeping one busy and worship. Lay down the tools, get your fingers off the keyboard, gather with others who love the Lord and worship. Each time we worship, we do a spiritual “check”, make certain we keep clean before the Lord by confession and repentance. Are you clean before the Lord?

How committed are you to the things of God? He gave us the best gift of Himself as the perfect sacrifice. Why not take this time to give Him all of yourself, let Him clean you up and restore you to fellowship with Himself and with others?

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