Thurs.’s Devo - The Holy and the Profane

Read: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17 God called the people to be holy because they were worshiping a holy God. They should respect their parents and God’s Sabbaths. They were not to make metal gods to worship. *** When offering a peace offering to the Lord, anything left till the third day was to be burned up with fire. The third day represents resurrection and new life. None of the old can come into the new life. It represents the day a person comes to Christ. That is their third day. *** When they reaped their land they were to leave some unharvested along the edges for the traveler. They were also to leave any that fell on the ground. *** They were not to steal, cheat in business or lie to one another. They were also not to use God’s name to swear by falsely. *** They were to treat people with respect whether they were a hired worker or the handicap. They were not to show partiality in legal matters, slander or take vengeance or bear a grudge; but love their neighbor. *** They were not to mix seed whether it be in breeding cattle or sewing garments with two different kinds of material. We can not mix holy with profane. ** When they came into the land, any new plant must not be eaten the first three years. The fourth year it is the Lord, but in the fifth year you may eat its fruit and multiply its seed. I think this has to do with people who are many times referred to as trees (Psalm 1). We get saved and it is our third year. We give our first fruit to the Lord and in the year of walking in grace (5) we bear fruit that remains and grows. *** God gave them many laws to keep them from entering into the occult and to keep their worship pure. One of the greatest of these warnings had to do with offering their children to Molech. *** God gave them many sexual laws to keep them pure and holy. *** In Mark, the Pharisees came to Jesus wanting a sign to show that he was from heaven. Jesus told them that they would not be given a sign and left. (Jesus had the teaching on boundaries down!) *** When he was alone with his disciples he told them to be aware of the yeast of the Pharisees. He was talking about their false doctrines but the disciples thought they were being rebuked for not remembering to bring bread. 
 *** Jesus rebuked them for thinking carnally and physically when he was teaching them spiritual concepts. He had multiplied food two times showing that he was the God of more than enough and yet they still worried about carnal things. *** Lord, may we get beyond the natural and carnal things in our lives and see with spiritual eyes. You have promised to meet all our needs and to never leave us or forsake us. May we honor you today and honor others.