Sat.’s Devo - Our Gifts

Read: Numbers 36:1- Deuteronomy 1:46; Luke 5:29-6:11; Psalm 66:1-20; Proverbs 11:24-26
There arose a problem about inheritances. The daughters of Zelophehad from the tribe of Manasseh had no males so they got the land in their names. But, if they married a man from another tribe then their land would go to that tribe thus changing the geography of the tribes. To keep this from happening, Moses commanded the women of that tribe to marry within their tribe. Problem solved!
Every tribe had their own gifts and they were to pass on these gifts to their children. As a nation, they blessed one another with their different gifts. We do the same in our families and churches. We teach our kids the things we know and our gifts so that we can bless the whole Body of Christ. We are all different members but all of the same Lord. Romans 12:4-8 explains this a little better.
Before they entered into the land they had waited so long to have, Moses assembled them and caused them to remember their history and all the things the Lord had done for them and also all the things they had done against him. God wanted them to learn from their mistakes. He told them they were burdensome, bothersome, and quarrelsome… not very complementary.
It reminds me of the things John says about the churches in Revelation. He had some good things to say, but then he had some not-so-good things to say also. Man, unredeemed, will never get it right. The only good we have in us is what we allow God to do through us. We are righteous because of the blood of Jesus and we can walk in righteousness the more of him we let live through us.
In Luke, Jesus had just named Levi, a tax-collector to be one of his followers. Jesus, as a rabbi was to select followers to be under his mentorship. All rabbi’s did this. Usually the rabbi would choose the top students in the class, but Jesus chose the least studious. He didn’t want a student who knew all the answers according to their Torah schools because they didn’t teach Moses’ law, they taught their own. Jesus chose men who were teachable and hungry which irritated the scribes and Pharisees to no end. Jesus didn’t choose them. So, they followed him anyway looking for anything they could accuse him of doing against their laws. He did plenty of things that broke their laws, but none that broke God’s.
When they complained that Jesus ate with sinners, he told them that he didn’t come to the righteous but to the sinners - the ones who needed a doctor. They were always condemning his healing on the Sabbath, calling it work. He explained that the Sabbath was made as a day to do good on and that is what he was doing. He gave them the example of the foolishness of putting a new patch on an old coat and putting new wine into old wineskins. It wouldn’t work and neither could he put the new kingdom into their traditional minds and hearts. They had to have new minds and new hearts to be able to hold it. That is why we must be born again to understand spiritual things.
Lord, thank you for new birth. Thank your for renewing our minds in you every day and letting us see clearer and clearer as we grow in you.