13:1ff - There are going to be things that exist in this world that amaze - that boggle the mind - that seem to be miraculous - that seem to be fact or true...but if they lead us away from God, they are not good. God allows these things to exist to test our faith. We show that we love God with everything we have, when we can live in a world filled with things trying to lead us away from God, and stay true. I think we have all seen how convincing and tempting are the arguments that lead us from God...what's your biggest struggle along these lines?
13:10 - Are there relationships in your life that need to be ended (Not by stoning someone...just ended), because they keep drawing you away from God? We must always be vigilant about what is influencing us and what we are being influenced towards.
14:23 - Why is tithing important? Because it keeps your priorities straight. It's like we talked about last night, when you give your wealth away (especially if you are giving it to God's work) you are not going to be able to worship that wealth. Giving to God leads us to trust Him - we are saying that we trust He will take care of us. Giving to God means that we fear God - we want to keep Him central in our minds and remove any distractions, like wealth.
15:4 and 11 - How can he say in 4 that there will be no poor and then 7 verses later in 11 he tells us that there will always be poor around - have we found a contradiction in the bible? No, not really. Moses is saying that after the Sabbatical year there will not be any people who are poor because of debt...everybody will be on the same page - debt free! In verse 11 he wants us all to understand, that after the Sabbatical year, there are always gonna be people who get themselves into tough situations. There will be people who go through horrific loses and there will be people up to their eyeballs in debt - that will always exist. The point of saying that there will always be poor with us, is not to get people to think, "Well, if they'll always be here - why even bother trying to help them out?(I have known Christians who thought like this)" The point is that there will always be opportunities for God's people to be generous. God is a generous God who is pouring our His blessings on undeserving people every moment of every day - the least we could do as His followers would be to live out His example on earth and give generously, even when people don't deserve it.
15:8 - Moses is pretty clear here...as a God follower, you do whatever it takes to help somebody. Do not allow your heart to shut somebody out.
3 comments:
Ch 13. Purging evil from our lives must still be deliberate today. What about the whole family thing? This kind of reminds me of the discussion on being luke warm on Sunday morning. Remember when I said that if a spouse decides to make a change and stop being luke warm, there will be an increase in the divorce rate among “Christian” couples. I can see why it is so important to be solid before your married, and then only marry someone who is equally yoked.
Ch 14. Imagine what the world would look like if people wanted to tithe and did it. Following God’s laws will also show what the world could be. (I’m glad I’m a gentile and get to eat pork)!
Ch. 15. Reading through the Law sometimes gives me the impression that Moses is addressing people of a certain social status. I understand what Brandon is saying, but it could also be taken that “you”, those he is addressing, will be blessed, and then instructs them to always take care of the poor. In other words there are those that find themselves privileged and God tells them in His Law to be generous. That is not much different than our culture today, having “privileged” people.
Sticking a awl through the ear, OUCH.
I would say it all comes down to if they are leading you away from God or not. As a follower of God, hopefully you could continue to stay strong in the faith, even if your spouse wasn't. Still shouldn't marry unequally yoked, but I don't think Christians running around divorcing non-Christian spouses is a way to introduce people to the love of God. Followers of Christ understand that you can go into the world as long as you are influencing it and not the opposite. We have the Holy spirit that the Israelites didn't have.
Talk about a harsh way to deal with peer pressure: "if someone tries to tempt you to worship another god, Kill 'em." Doesn't matter if its your family or friends, stone them to death (WOW).
To answer Brandon's question along these lines, I think the biggest thing that leads me away from God is not a friend or family member, but me. I seem to be able to do this one all on my own, with out help from others. I kinda feel like, I'm weakest when I'm alone; when other people are present I know that I'm setting an example and will be held accountable.
Ch 15: This is a cool picture of the forgiveness of Jesus. When he came and died on the cross it was like a (the ESV calls it) Sabattical year, maybe also the year of jubilee; when all the debt of the nation was to be erased. Jesus erased the debt of sin that people owed to God, but the interesting thing about this is the how and why. The "how:" how did he erase our debt; he paid for it out of his own pocket on the cross. The "why:" why did he choose to pay for our debt, because God loves us and desires us.
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