Wed.’s Devo - Offenses

Read: Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10
The plague of leprosy is a picture of offense. Romans tells us all about the flesh. Romans 8:8 says that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So the flesh is a picture of our sin nature. Leprosy is a disease of the flesh. It is the disease of unforgiveness. If we hold unforgiveness in our hearts it will eventually spread to our conversations and cause us to become bitter. This is leprosy that has gotten under our skin. Our leprosy will spread to those around us and cause them to take up our offense. On the seventh day, judgement day, we will all be judged for the condition of our hearts. We must be free of all unforgiveness before we can enter heaven. Our hearts must be pure and clean.
The person who had leprosy was to cry out “unclean” to anyone who came near. He was to live alone outside the camp. Bitterness does cause other people to not want to be around us and it causes us to close our hearts so we don’t open up and embrace people. It makes us afraid to be hurt again. Jesus never gave up on love, no matter how he was hurt. He continued to reach out with compassion and we have to do the same.
People who live in bitterness are very lonely people who are in need healing. Jesus came and healed many people of their leprosy.
Unforgiveness opens the door to so many other sins to enter. The man of the Gaderenes had a legion of demons that had entered him through the door of unforgiveness.
People fear what they cannot understand. The people didn’t understand Jesus so they tried to use reason. Reason will never help us understand God’s kingdom. It is a kingdom of faith and miracles, signs and wonders which defy human reasoning.
The people of Jesus’ home town did not understand who Jesus was because they could only see him in the natural. They were offended by him. They had leprosy of the heart. Herod was offended by the message that John the Baptist preached because it exposed his sin. Herod killed him in the natural, but he couldn’t kill his message. Jesus continued the message. Neither can we kill the message of repentance and forgiveness. We have to forgive others, no matter what they did to us just as Jesus has forgiven our sins.
Lord, help us to forgive those who have offended and used us. Cleanse our hearts so we can freely love.