I decided that since this is my blog I can throw any unofficial rules I have placed upon myself out the window. I will not be talking about the chapter today but I would still love it if you would read Deuteronomy 21 right now or just click here.
I thought this would be a good time to bring something up that really bothers me. Sometimes I read things in the Old Testament that disturb me. Often, I just plain don't understand. There are a lot of places that it says you should just take that person out and stone them. Period. Stone them dead. The end. This is why I thought I would share something that brings me peace when reading the tough stuff in the Bible.
If God is a holy God and holiness is the absence of evil, God cannot be in the presence of sin. This causes a problem. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, they made it impossible to be with God anymore and had to be separated. Romans 3:23 says,"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". The Bible is the love story of how God desperately tries everything He can to rescue us back to be with Him again. He loves us. He wants us. It's so important to realize that all along, He has been fighting for us because He desires reconciliation. This is where Jesus enters the picture. Remember, in the Old Testament we read all of the ways God's people had to try to offer sacrifices in order to be forgiven and made clean. They actually had to go to the temple and blood had to be shed to atone for the mistakes of mankind. Also, no one was actually permitted to be in the presence of God because He was so holy. We read of special exceptions where people got close but only to see his back or just be near Him on a mountain. Never could man walk beside God in the garden again. Until Jesus came. God knew that we would never be good enough. He knew we would have to keep making sacrifices over and over again and still never measure up to His holiness. And I also think He didn't love the fact that we couldn't be in His presence. In Hebrews 9:3 we read "Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place," also known as the Holy of Holies, which was the most sacred place in the temple. The High Priest was only permitted to enter that room once a year for the very special sacrifice. They actually would tie a rope around this person in case they died while in the chamber - that was how serious there were about nobody entering in. And then Jesus happens. God sent His son Jesus to Earth to be with us, to teach us and to die for us. He became the blood sacrifice for all who believed. Through His death and resurrection we can find forgiveness and one day be with God in Heaven. He became the fulfillment of all the laws God gave his people. Through Him, we would never have to feel like we would never be good enough because the truth is, we never will be. But He is. He is good enough. And the bonus prize we get when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior is the Holy of Holies is now living within us. We have complete access to God. The Holy Spirit makes His home within us and we can be in the presence of God once again. In Matthew 27:51 we read, "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split..." When Jesus died, the curtain that kept people out of the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn in two. God made a way through Jesus. The law we read about today in the Old Testament is sacred and divine and important, but Jesus also made it so we don't have to follow all the rules in order to be forgiven. His death on the cross gave us life if only we would believe."We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20) He went in on our behalf and made that special sacrifice with His own life.
So, I need to appreciate the law found in the Old Testament and learn from it, but I also should examine it with the help of the Holy Spirit within me. And if I am going to look at death in a different light, I need to find things in my life that should be put to death. Like my food addiction. Confession time: I think I may have slipped off the wagon a little this weekend. Along with my whole 30-approved snacks, I also took 100% grape juice along with me to enjoy at the Bachelorette party. Well, I only had a little of the 64 ounce container while I was in Columbus but today is Wednesday. And the grape juice sits in my refrigerator almost comepletely gone. I keep going back for more. Just beacuse it is there. Just because it tastes good. Just because it borderline breaks the rules and I like my freedom. So, I have invited sugar back into my systerm. Some would say since it is fruit juice it is okay. But it is still a lot of sugar that my body doesn't need and has been trying to do without for the last few weeks. I am kind of bummed because I got on the scale this morning and have gained some weight back. (I know, you're not supposed to weigh yourself during the whole 30 but I sometimes do!) I know I shouldn't get caught up in the weight loss because this is more about my spitual and emotional battle with food right now but the physical is important too. So, I could get bummed and stay bummed. Or I could look back at the thing that made me fall back into some old habits and fight. I could stone it to death. Rather than stoning myself for kind of breaking the rules (well, at least revisiting old habits) I can put to destroy the temptation. I am not going to allow myself to drink anymore juice during this 40 days. It was too tempting to go too. Whether it was the reason I gained some weight back or not, I still am recognizing that it pushed me to fall back into my old self and I don't want to be that person any longer. I don't need your grape juice, Mr. Welch, however good it may taste. I will cling to my trusty old water bottle to quench my thirst. And to Jesus Christ, the wellspring of life. It is beacuse of Him that I can rejoice that I no longer have to live as the old self. He died so that I may live and I will embrace that today and always.
Hebrews 10:10-14 says it beautifully, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
Christ made all things new and now we get to share in the rewards He provided for us when He became the fulfillment of the law and Old Testament. Don't read God's Word and focus on the harsh judgements and punishments because Jesus took them upon His shoulders once and for all. We will always face ramifications for our actions on Earth, but when we say we trust Jesus we are also saying that we believe we are no longer under that old law. We are accepting the fact that He took all those old ways in the Old Testament and signed His name as the Receiver. We learn from the law but are no longer bound by it. We live like Jesus Who is not only the fulfillment of the law but who is the law. To follow the law, we must follow Him.
Father, today help me to understand exactly what all this means. Thank You for making all things new and for giving me access to You through Jesus. Help me to live my life in a way that honors the sacrifice He made for me. I confess I have gotten weak recently but it is through You that I can be strong. I choose to hold onto You today and persevere. I love You, Lord. Amen.
Now Choose Life.
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