February 29th
Exodus 12:2
This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.”
Every four years we add this day to our modern calendar. For those born on this day or married on this day you can imagine the anticipation for their long awaited birthday or anniversary. For those who died on this day their death is only commemorated every four years. For some this is a great day, while for others it is a pain, especially those with birthdays. Yet in God’s divine creative order, He has designed the amount of time for the earth to orbit the sun to be 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. So, we mortals need to have a way to account for the nearly 6 hours that don’t just vanish each year. So every four years we account for the difference with a leap day. Happy leap day.
In God’s economy He has also established a calendar for His people. Although a method was established to account for days, weeks, months and years prior to the Exodus from Egyptian captivity, God did a reset with his redeemed people. In Exodus chapter 12 God tells the Israelites that just before the last plague that He would be establishing a new calendar. They are told, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.” (Ex 12:2). They are further told that in this 1st month of their new calendar that they would celebrate what came to be known as the Passover (Ex 12:11) and the seven day feast of Unleavened bread that followed. They were to do this throughout their generations (Ex 12:14) to commemorate the day that death angel passed over everyone who had applied the blood of the slain lamb to the door posts of their house. They were saved by the blood of the lamb. Their faith and obedience to the Lord’s command led to their redemption.
Little did they know that many many years later during this very feast that Jesus our Passover lamb would be slain on a cross for our salvation. He was the unblemished lamb that was chosen for our redemption. As it was then, so it is now. We are under the death penalty for our sins (Rom 6:23) and as such we hope for one who could save us. We hope for one who’s blood could be applied to our life so that the death angel would Passover us. That is exactly what Jesus promised, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. . . (John 11:25). It is belief in the sinless life, sacrificial death and supernatural resurrection of Jesus that leads to eternal life. His blood was shed on your behalf. He died for your sins. He was resurrected to give you new life.
This leap day could be the day that you take the leap and trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. God established this day to account for the extra hours in a year. God has sent his son to account for the sin in your life. John in his epistle writes, In this the love of God was manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him, In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be that propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10).
God loves you. He died to save you. Turn to Him and trust Him today. Make this the day, your “reset” day, the day you let go of your sins and leap into the loving arms of Jesus. Take the leap, you wont regret it.
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