Be Still And Know

READ: Isaiah 56.6 NLT “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.” In the Old Testament, God’s people were often told to be welcoming to foreigners. God’s love was not confined to the Jews and they were reminded that, as a nation, they used to be foreigners in Egypt so it was only right that they should be generous and loving towards foreigners. The people of Israel had spent four hundred years in Egypt so there was nothing that they didn’t know about the vulnerabilities and insecurities of being foreigners. The celebration of the Passover was a continual reminder of their roots in Egypt. We live in a wonderfully diverse country which, over the centuries, has welcomed people from many nations. This continues to be the case and every year we welcome many thousands of people. Some of them come to us as refugees and asylum seekers because of the dangers in th