Monday, April 27, 2009

Today's Scripture: Leviticus 14

This may sound like a stretch, but there are two things that God revealed to me through this scripture.

First, all of us have done it or have wanted to do it, that is throw away a piece of Tupperware or an article of clothing because it was just too dirty. Whether it be a shirt that was left in a gym bag for a month or the container of who knows what that has been in the back of the fridge longer than you can remember. We often write things off as "uncleanable". God however in both of His instructions in this passage begins with "first try to clean it." He doesn't say "this person or that house is past the point of recovery", no. He says "try and then if there is no change then throw it out, but try first."

For me this is one more piece of scriptural proof that God's primary desire is for us to have the chance to be clean of our sin. He wants us to be clean of our sin so that we can be in His presence. God writes no one off, not matter how "dirty" they are. All He asks is that we first try.

Building on my point above, the second thing that God revealed to me is this: He instructed His people to wait seven days after the initial cleaning and then reevaluate the cleanliness of the person or house. God is trying to stress to His people that just the procedure of making yourself clean is not enough. You must make sure that the sin or dirtiness doesn't return.

The most effective way for us to do this in our own lives is to have someone hold us accountable. If we have someone checking back in on our cleanliness then we are far less likely to fall back into dirtiness or sin.

To put it simply, God's first desire is always our spiritual cleanliness, and to help us maintain that cleanliness it helps to have others who will check it for us from time to time. So I encourage you if you aren't a part of an accountability group on Wednesday nights come and find one. It will truly bless you and help you to be accountable to God's desire for your life.