Posts
God gave instructions for offerings that the Israelites were
to make to Him when they entered the
land He was giving them. In other words,
“Forty years from now …”
Five times in those instructions, God mentioned that “its
smell will be pleasing to the Lord.” I
began to see that the smell that was pleasing to Him was the smell of wholehearted obedience.
God also said, “If the people forget to obey any of
these commands”, there was an offering that would also be a smell pleasing to
the Lord. They would remember the command, realize that they’d forgotten to keep
it, and repent by making the
offering. There was a very hopeful verse: “They are forgiven because they didn’t know
they were sinning.” Wow! They’d been told the command, they forgot
it, and God forgives even that when
they repent of their sin!
Yet there was also a stern warning: “Anyone who sins on purpose is against the Lord … That person has turned
against the Lord’s Word and has not
obeyed His commands … He is guilty.” No offering was listed that would remove
those types of sins.
The sidebar in my Bible noted how God still pointed His people towards the Promised Land even after their rebellion. He has a purpose. It spoke of how “created things give cultural
Christianity its toehold. They defeat us
and choke the Word. When we refuse to
obey, He will separate us from those created things which dilute our devotion
to Him. If we can’t remain obedient, He
will discipline us for our own good….
It is not a sign of hatred, but love. If
He did not love you, He would let
you completely self-destruct….
Created things divide our affection from God and become competition to our
devotion.”
The wounds God faithfully inflicts in bringing us back to
Him may be the single greatest blessing of our spiritual pilgrimage, it said.
Father, thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your mercy, and
Your faithfulness. Help me to hold on to
You when my world seems to be spinning out of control.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment