Today’s Passages – Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10
Defiled
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.– Leviticus 13:45-46
Today’s reading in Leviticus would be easy to bypass. It is a lot of instructions about leprosy and skin diseases. God had to instruct the Israelites because they had never lived outside of captivity or in a wilderness. They didn’t have modern medicines, antibiotics, emergency rooms like we do. They couldn’t look up their symptoms on WebMD. If they caught a disease and someone didn’t deal with it and them aggressively, it could be tragic for the whole nation. God had to set up their government, and He also had to teach them many things, including cleanliness.
We know that God put these instructions in the Bible, which means they are eternal, so also for us today. To find the spiritual application, we must look below the surface as the priests had to look below the surface to see if a disease had defiled the body. That being said, we don’t have to look too far.
If something is on the surface, it can be dealt with quickly—a little quarantine. Serious problems can cause deeper issues if left unattended. The problem is we can’t always see that it is happening. Uncleanliness (sin) on the surface of our lives – whether in body, mind, or spirit – shouldn’t be left to grow and fester. Sin not dealt with will threaten our eternal lives and touch everything and everyone around us, much like the effects of leprosy. What kinds of things? Well, to name a few – jealousy, competition, gossip, bitterness, anger, lust. The list goes on and on, but these types of sins are not easily seen in their beginnings.
Reveal the hidden sins in my life today, Father, that I might deal with them now and live a clean and holy life. Help me, Holy Ghost, to yield to all You are doing in and through me. In the precious Name of Jesus! Amen!
Dishonored
But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. – Mark 6:4
Familiarity will cause us to reject what God is doing in someone’s life. The rejection looks like unbelief but also could have roots of jealousy, pride, and bitterness. But, familiarity issues don’t have to have all that. Sometimes we don’t hear the Word from someone familiar – someone we are used to hearing preach or teach the Word. You can listen to your Pastor preach a sermon and feel almost nothing, but an evangelist can come in and give the same Word, and you respond.
Help us, Jesus, not to dishonor what You are doing in and through others!!!
Dumb (with Silence)
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. – Psalms 39:1-5, 7
It is incredible how slow life sometimes seems but how fast life can turn around. One day you are young, and the next, you are old. One day you are healthy, and the next, your body has started showing signs of age and deterioration. One day you are pleased where you are, and the next, you are looking for a smaller house, on one level, free from the steps and cleaning that once didn’t bother you at all. Life truly is fleeting.
Teach us to number our days, Lord. Teach us not to take one day for granted. To work while we are able and to also prepare for the time when we can’t. Help us trust You in each season and realize that even if we are still young, we are all very frail…without YOU!!!
Distressed
He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. – Proverbs 10:10
My dad always taught me not to trust anyone who winks. He must have read this verse because in my opinion, the message of this verse is that one who winks does not take wickedness and foolishness seriously.
Had the priests in Leviticus not taken leprosy seriously and had they winked at the uncleanliness of even one person, that uncleanliness would have spread until it couldn’t be contained.
There is no room to ignore (or wink at) any sin or wickedness. There is no room to wink at (or ignore) the person committing that sin and wickedness. Yes, we are to love the sinner and hate the sin, but we need to be very careful in our “loving” them, that we do not give a wink to their sin in any way.
People need to know that their sin is of the enemy, and it is not WHO they are. God created them to live for Him and believe in His Son and follow Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost.
But, the enemy comes to drag them away to the life of sin. The person in front of you is precious to God, but the sin is not. He doesn’t wish that any should perish, so He won’t, and we shouldn’t ignore the sin and uncleanliness that festers. If we do, it can be as tragic as it would have been for the children of Israel.
If someone calls out sin in your life, don’t despise it. It might not feel wonderful at the moment, but they didn’t wink at your sin, which is the most loving thing they can do. One glorious day, someone called out my sin, and I often think where would I be, had they not had the courage to confront me.
Give us boldness and great courage, God, to take the authority given to us by Your Son Jesus to confront the evil all around us. In Jesus Name, fill us with Your FIRE to work today for You and all for Your Glory. Amen!!!
a lamp and a light 