Study from God’s Word… Lev. 12: 1-8; Lev. 14: 1-32; Lev. 15: 13-15, 28-30; Num. 19: 1-22 [Num. 9: 10]; … Passage for Reflection: Lev. 14: 8a … NIV "The person to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. …”
My Journal for Today: My readings for today focused on the ceremonial cleansing, such as actions or offerings, which were required by God and the Israelite Priesthood, especially when God’s people confronted certain elements of life such as childbirth, certain diseases [especially skin diseases], bodily secretions, and contact or close presence with a dead body. My devotional shepherd, Dr. Smith, had me reading about many of the Hebrew ceremonies, offerings, and actions required of the people who were confronted with some of these life challenging issues which God’s Law had laid out to help protect His people.
For example in my focus verse/passage for today, I read about how someone with a skin disease was required to be cleansed by the Priests, … first outside the camp; and then, after that ritual cleansing, he was to stay outside his own tent for seven days and be cleansed for a week with ceremonially blessed waters by the Priests until he was bodily healed and ceremoniously cleansed.
As Dr. Smith points out, many religions have ceremonial cleansing with water in their rituals; and often these rituals picture the basic sinfulness of man and the need to be cleansed from sin. Hindus actually “bath” themselves in the polluted waters of the Ganges, believing that it cleanses the soul of the one so cleansed. I’ve been to the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem; and I know that the Muslims entering their temple there have to be “cleansed” by a ceremonial washing before entering the Temple. And even Christ submitted Himself to the ceremonial cleansing of the waters of the Jordan River as He, being baptized by John, the Baptistizer, wanted to paint the picture of the need for man to be cleansed of sinfulness by submitting himself to the cleansing of God’s Spirit. This latter process, of course (i.e., Baptism) doesn’t save the believer who is baptized. No, it merely signifies that the person has surrendered to God, in submission to the cleansing of the blood of the Lamb of God, who shed His blood for our sins on the Cross at Calvary. And if you go back to Leviticus 14: 1-8, you’ll read how the blood of a clean dove was sacrificed by the Priest who combined that blood with the ceremonial water for cleansing of the one with the skin disease. All of these are pictures of God’s desire that we be cleansed of our sin and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God.
When asked about the saving power of baptism, I once heard a preacher say, “That water [in the Baptismal font] doesn’t save anyone. If you haven’t surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ when you’re baptized, you’ll come up out of the water, and all you’ll be is a wet sinner.” And that is Dr. F. LaGard Smith’s point today, as he closes his devotional entry with this application question, “If God has painted me pure in the waters of baptism, have I allowed myself to become polluted?” And it is so true that we can be made positionally holy by believing in and receiving the baptism of God’s Spirit with our faith in the atoning and finished act of Christ’s death and resurrection; but practically, our sin choices can make us as unclean as those Jews with skin diseases who needed to be ceremonially cleansed from their disease.
We need to ask ourselves if we are living out the holiness which became our right of cleansing when we were cleansed by the blood of Christ. If not, we need to be cleansed by our own personal surrender in confession to God so that we can receive His promised cleansing by His Spirit (see 1st John 1: 9 - linked) How about it? Are we keeping short accounts for our sins; and are we living out the cleansing which has been given to us by our Savior on the Cross?
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to live holy because You are holy; and my only reflection of Your holiness comes in the way I make my choices and live my life. I am cleansed by the blood of the Lamb; and so, may I live cleanly to show Your presence in my life. Amen
Showing posts with label cleansing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleansing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
2009 - Day 20 - Guilty
January 20, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Guilty
Passage of the Day: Genesis 42: 21 – 24 … 21 Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
My Journal for Today: “We are truly guilty,…” were the words of Joseph’s brothers as they were confronted with the reality of their past actions when they were merely reminded of their deed by the questions from this young Prime Minister. And yet they didn’t know that their brother stood right before them; and Joseph could understand their Hebrew words, though he cunningly used an interpreter to give the brothers the impression that he didn’t speak their language. And the reactions of the brothers were emotionally wrenching, or maybe uplifting to Joseph, who had to leave their presence because he became so emotional hearing them admit their guilt.
We don’t know exactly what the tears from Joseph represented. It could have been joy in finding the family he had lost; or it could have been tears of empathy, because Joseph knew exactly what it felt like to be in the custody of a power over their life. But we do know that Joseph had to turn or walk away from his brothers to hide his emotions. And we also know, from the unfolding of the story to come that Joseph’s emotions were devoid of any bitterness toward the brothers – a most super-natural response, for sure!
Now, we see a carefully enacted ploy develop to move his brothers to go back to Canaan and bring his father and younger brother, Benjamin to him. But no matter what their sentence from Egypt, through Joseph, the past guilt of these men had caught up to them. As Swindoll very perceptively writes, “… when God comes to tap on stooped shoulders and to break a guilty heart, He does not stop with a slight nudge or mild reproach.” And that is why believers, who live by the truth of 1st John 1: 9 (as I pointed out yesterday), must keep short accounts of sin, coming to God’s throne of grace for cleansing from confession any time sin is perpetrated, comes to one’s consciousness, and is acknowledged by the guilty party.
However, we can be so stupid at times as Christians, holding on to guilt and shame, when it is needlessly retained. How intelligent is it to hold on to a burning ember when we only need discard it and receive the balm of healing from a merciful and graceful God Who promises us complete cleansing and healing from His blood? That’s just dumb [!]; and as my wife often says, “There’s no real cure for dumb.” But so often we can be so dumb as followers of Christ; can’t we?
I hope we can be smarter than the brothers of Joseph, who held on to their guilt for over two decades. But as they confronted the Prime Minister of Egypt, who unbeknownst to them was their brother, little did they know that they were going to have to pay the piper … and the piper was Joseph, … the one whom they had wronged; and this was about to become apparent to them. Stay tuned! The plot thickens; and the truth is more wondrous than any novel.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to be always open and real with You, holding on to no shame and seeking Your mercy. Amen
Passage of the Day: Genesis 42: 21 – 24 … 21 Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
My Journal for Today: “We are truly guilty,…” were the words of Joseph’s brothers as they were confronted with the reality of their past actions when they were merely reminded of their deed by the questions from this young Prime Minister. And yet they didn’t know that their brother stood right before them; and Joseph could understand their Hebrew words, though he cunningly used an interpreter to give the brothers the impression that he didn’t speak their language. And the reactions of the brothers were emotionally wrenching, or maybe uplifting to Joseph, who had to leave their presence because he became so emotional hearing them admit their guilt.
We don’t know exactly what the tears from Joseph represented. It could have been joy in finding the family he had lost; or it could have been tears of empathy, because Joseph knew exactly what it felt like to be in the custody of a power over their life. But we do know that Joseph had to turn or walk away from his brothers to hide his emotions. And we also know, from the unfolding of the story to come that Joseph’s emotions were devoid of any bitterness toward the brothers – a most super-natural response, for sure!
Now, we see a carefully enacted ploy develop to move his brothers to go back to Canaan and bring his father and younger brother, Benjamin to him. But no matter what their sentence from Egypt, through Joseph, the past guilt of these men had caught up to them. As Swindoll very perceptively writes, “… when God comes to tap on stooped shoulders and to break a guilty heart, He does not stop with a slight nudge or mild reproach.” And that is why believers, who live by the truth of 1st John 1: 9 (as I pointed out yesterday), must keep short accounts of sin, coming to God’s throne of grace for cleansing from confession any time sin is perpetrated, comes to one’s consciousness, and is acknowledged by the guilty party.
However, we can be so stupid at times as Christians, holding on to guilt and shame, when it is needlessly retained. How intelligent is it to hold on to a burning ember when we only need discard it and receive the balm of healing from a merciful and graceful God Who promises us complete cleansing and healing from His blood? That’s just dumb [!]; and as my wife often says, “There’s no real cure for dumb.” But so often we can be so dumb as followers of Christ; can’t we?
I hope we can be smarter than the brothers of Joseph, who held on to their guilt for over two decades. But as they confronted the Prime Minister of Egypt, who unbeknownst to them was their brother, little did they know that they were going to have to pay the piper … and the piper was Joseph, … the one whom they had wronged; and this was about to become apparent to them. Stay tuned! The plot thickens; and the truth is more wondrous than any novel.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to be always open and real with You, holding on to no shame and seeking Your mercy. Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
