Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid. You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Numbers 19:2-3 NRSV
The Old Testament has quite a few rituals recorded there that God demanded as part of His desire to reveal His authority and His holiness. I could never get a handle on them all but as I got older, not only do I get them, but I under the new covenant I see what we have been given through Jesus.
But the Old Testament also gives us promises. I love those promises – they are hope to me whenever I read them and those hopes are real because of Jesus.
For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life. – Psalm 56:13 NRSV
Even on Sunday morning, as our church started a series on the Apostles Creed – I was reminded that God is the ultimately authority and is holy. While He is also a generous God who gave us Jesus, and because of Jesus we can call Him, Abba Father, I am to remember that He is my Father and with all the authority and holiness that comes with that.
But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread – Isaiah 8:13 NRSV
So my walk has to be holy too. I get now why Jesus called us to be perfect and holy. In the little things, they matter, because God matters and what I believe about God matters. In my fund-raising ministry I might be tempted to favour those with more wealth, but God calls me to obey Him.
My brothers and sisters,[a] do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? – James 2:2 NRSV
Lord, I want and need to show my world that deep inside, not just on the outside, I am a follower of Jesus. I know that when I made the decision to follow You, I invited you to change me from the inside out. There is no way I want to fake my decision, to act my way through my faith – I want to be real. I need you Father to help me, I need your strong-arm to guide me and I need your wisdom to teach me. May those who look on my life say that You really matter to me. For Your glory and Your honour I pray. Amen
evanlaar
Sixty-six books in a year