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Jehovah-Maccaddeshem


“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy." (Exodus 31:13) 

          "Jehovah-Maccaddeshem" means "The Lord thy sanctifier," or "The Lord who makes you holy." In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve rebelled because they wanted to be "like God," knowing good and evil. The sad part of that is that God was teaching them about good and evil, and therefore how to be more like God when He commanded them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Lesson One: doing what God tells you not to do is evil.
          That's a problem we still have. We want to be like God, but we don't want to become more like God according to God's plan. We don't want to endure sanctification or to be made holy. We want to drive the car even though our feet don't reach the gas pedal or brake and we can't see over the steering wheel. So God starts teaching us about traffic lights and turn signals. 
          "But that's not driving!" we complain. Actually, it is as much about driving as turning the wheel and stepping on the gas. Sanctification is becoming like God and about being true to what He created us to be. 
          Yesterday was a challenging day. Dad's schedule and mine didn't mesh well. I got up late. He either got up early or late. The result was that I didn't get my normal morning walk in before I had to go to choir. That meant I didn't pray my way past about half the residences or for all the people I usually do. Then, the car battery died, which meant interrupting my plans to recharge it and get it checked. These weren't big things, but I was irritated. My plans were good plans, meant to bring blessings to others. 
          God apparently had other plans. The thought came to mind, "I bow the knee." I repeated it quite a few times yesterday morning, sometimes through gritted teeth. Another thought came to mind. This would be useful to mention in this blog, but I'm working my way through names of God, and I didn't know if it would fit. This is why we bow the knee. This is why we need Jehovah-Maccaddeshem, because when He's driving, you get to see some pretty cool sights and even share them with others.

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