Week 16 Wednesday
Today we see God's care for physical health in Leviticus, find a "but God" in the middle of Psalm 74, and watch the early church settle what the Gentiles must do to be saved.
Leviticus 15
📖 What are we reading?: Laws about bodily discharges and the cleansing they required, including those connected with sex.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He is concerned about our physical health. Notice that in these passages the people needed physical cleansing but not forgiveness.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? It might be tempting to view sex as evil as we read these verses, but no spiritual defilement comes from these things - provided, of course, that sexual relations take place within the covenant of marriage.
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➡️ The bigger picture: Leviticus was given to Moses shortly after the tabernacle was completed, around 1400 BC, and no other book in the Bible contains as much direct speech from God. Its theme is holiness and separation, though a careful reader will find Jesus in the details of these ancient rituals.
Psalm 74
📖 What are we reading?: A stirring Psalm describing the Babylonian invasion of Judah, and pleading with God to remember His people.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He is King, and worthy of our trust.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? I love the "but God" verse halfway through (verse 12)! Even in our difficult times, we can say "but God" and trust that He will come through.
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➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Acts 15:1-35
📖 What are we reading?: An important moment in church history. With the Jewish Christians still looking to retain their Jewish identity, the church meets in Jerusalem to decide what is required of the Gentiles who are now also included in God's salvation.
✞ What does this passage say about God? Verse 11 is such a clear statement of the Gospel - we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus. Peter reminds the pious Jews that the Gentiles were also saved and purified, though they weren't circumcised.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? James suggests a few guidelines for the Gentiles who had received God, and the church sends them in a letter. Remember, these things are a fruit of God's saving grace, and never a condition for earning it.
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➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's second book outlines the ministry of the early church - though it could just as well be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, as He guides and grows Jesus' small movement into something that changes the world.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You care for our bodies as well as our souls, that You are our King from of old, and that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus. Help us to say "but God" in our hard times, and to live out our salvation with gratitude today. Amen.
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