Our Daily Bread 12th August 2025 | ODB TODAY
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Read Our Daily Bread For 12 August 2025 ODB: Distance ’Til Empty
TOPIC: Distance ’Til Empty
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Psalms 84-86; Romans 12
KEY VERSE: but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. Exodus 20:10
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Exodus 20:1, 8-17
1 Then God spoke all these words,
8 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.[a]
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Read Our Daily Bread For 12 August 2025
INSIGHT FOR TODAY: The Israelites arrived at the base of Mount Sinai two months after escaping bondage in Egypt (Exodus 19:1). It was there that Moses climbed up the mountain to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments (the law). These commandments were meant to guide Israel to a life of holiness, a life pleasing to God.
The first four commands focused on their relationship with God, and the last six concerned their relationship with each other. Note the fourth commandment’s wording: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (20:8).
The people were to remember that after creating the world, God rested on the Sabbath, or seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3)—and they were to do likewise.
This commandment wasn’t meant to be a burden or restrictive but instead to provide needed rest from labor. It was a holy day set aside for their bodies and souls to be refreshed. Today, we also need rest from our work and to trust God to provide for our needs.
MESSAGE
My tired minivan has a digital readout with initials DTE: Distance ’Til Empty. It gives me a precise mileage countdown. Most newer cars these days have this feature. It’s a handy one: Knowing exactly how far I can go before I need to fill the gas tank is important data to avoid being stranded!
Did you know the Ten Commandments offer something of an ancient analog to the DTE feature? It’s called Sabbath. In Exodus 20, God tells us that after six days, we’re out of metaphorical gas: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work” (vv. 8-10).
We might be tempted to ignore this commandment. After all, the prohibitions against lying, stealing, murder, adultery, coveting, and idolatry (vv. 1-17) seem pretty obvious. But resting for a day each week? Is it really that important?
We might think we can “cheat” here. But the gift the Sabbath offers is an invitation to rest. To cease laboring. To remember that God provides for us, not our own constant labor.
Distance ’til empty? Six days. And on the seventh, God graciously invites us to rest, recharge, and to relinquish the notion that it’s all up to us.
REFLECT: When do you find it easy or hard to rest from your work? What are some things you need to do to enable you to rest?
PRAY: Dear Father, it’s so tempting to believe it’s all up to me. Thank You for the Sabbath, Your invitation to cease from my work and to trust Your provision.
Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organisation founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
