Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Exodus 12:1-28 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’ Exodus 12:13

Are you good at following instructions? Even if you aren’t, if it was a matter of life and death I’m sure your attention to details is all of a sudden meticulous!

This is the spot that it might appear that the Israelite’s found themselves in. If they didn’t follow the instructions God had given Moses then their first born sons would die, along with the first born sons of the Egyptians. The fact of the matter was that by following God’s instructions they were marking themselves out as His chosen people – as people who follow the Lord God.

In many ways there is something for us to take from this. We can read the Bible and hear our church leaders preach and feel like there are a lot of rules to follow! Is it a case that if we follow those rules correctly we will dodge hell and get to spend eternity in Heaven? Not exactly!

Instead, we find that the narrative of the Bible is one of God’s love for us, redemption and freedom. As a result, when we encounter and know God’s love, understand and are living in the freedom and redemption Jesus bought for us by dying and rising again, we are increasingly drawn towards living lives that reflect love, forgiveness and freedom as a response to God. Put another way, our lives mark us out as followers of Jesus!

The question I pose us today is, how do our lives, our encounters with others, point them to the person of Jesus without us having to say a word?

The Israelites in this passage are told to put blood around their doorframe so as to mark them out as God’s people. John 13:35 suggests that for us, how we love is how others will know we are Jesus’ people. Are you living so as to point to Jesus?

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, as Your Father asked the Israelites to mark themselves out as His people, help us this Lent to be people whose lives reflect Your love, forgiveness and freedom, so as to reveal who You are to those we meet. Amen.

Ben Green, Diocesan Youth Adviser