The Large Catechism – part 94
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Acts 17:10–11
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Large Catechism, The Ten Commandments
The Third Commandment
This is the straightforward meaning of the commandment: since we observe holidays, or holy days, these observances should be devoted to hearing God’s Word. The special function of this day should be the ministry of the Word for the young and the poor. However, the observance should not be so strictly interpreted as to forbid incidental, unavoidable work.
Pulling It Together: Would you be ignoble? Ignore the Scriptures. Would you be honorable? Attend to the weekly service to hear the word of God read and expounded. Would you be nobler still? Be so interested in the word that you read it every day. Every day becomes a holiday when it is lived in God’s Word. But you say that you are not that interested, yet on the other hand you wish you were. Ah, then, I have a cure. Begin to read each day in an orderly fashion. Read a chapter from the Gospel of John each day, for example. Soon enough, the Holy Spirit will kindle in you a hunger for Scripture, and a greater nobility.
Prayer: Increase in me, Lord, a hunger and thirst for the pure milk of your word. Amen.
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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