Leviticus, Luke & a Song
For our last week before officially starting our fall curriculum, I shared some devotional thoughts from some places God has been speaking to me recently. They may have been a bit scattered (that happens sometimes, right?), but through all of them we continued to learn some common lessons: sin is serious, God values life, and God's love is great.
Leviticus 17
To begin our lesson together on Sunday, we broke up into two groups. Our first group had the privilege to read from chapter 17 of Leviticus. I got to chuckle a bit as students had many of the same reactions as I did to instructions on where to make sacrifices and why the Israelites should not eat blood. One of the fun things about Leviticus is the writer's commitment to really driving home the point through repetition. "Don't eat the blood because the life is in the blood. Oh also, don't eat the blood. No seriously, don't eat it, the life is in the blood!"
As foreign as all this sounds, the group gleaned a few insights from this passage: (1) The fact that it is so important for the people to not eat the blood and to sacrifice the animal in a manner of respect shows that God values life and that sin is serious. Because of the gravity of sin, life is lost. (2) While the concept of sacrifice is foreign, it is interesting that God gives very specific guidelines so that the people know where they stand. (3) Seriously, don't eat blood. You're not a vampire!
Luke 17:1-10
The second group read just a section of chapter 17 in Luke. In these brief verses, there is a lot of information packed in. First, Jesus speaks some harsh words against those who cause anyone else to stumble and sin, and he commands that we must forgive no matter how many times we are offended. When the disciples seem incredulous, Jesus launches into some interesting sayings about the power of faith and obedience and the expectations of disciples. Interestingly, Jesus talks about how ridiculous it would be for a servant to expect a reward for his duty at the end of the day.
Again, we found a few interesting points emerge: (1) Jesus makes some radical statements about the condemnation of those who cause sin AND our responsibility to forgive those who mess up. This shows that God despairs at our sin but does not give up on us. (2) Interestingly, faith and obedience here are not as focused on moral perfection as they are on mercy and forgiveness. Faith and obedience means shaping our character into more compassionate and humble people.
A Song
All of these insights point us to the incredible love of God. How crazy that God would continue to love us despite the fact that we seriously mess things up a lot of the time. Reflecting on this, I was reminded of a song that has meant a lot to me over the last week. It's kind of a simple and silly song. The lyrics describe someone who is flipping through the Psalms and is taken aback by how great God's promises are in response to our failures. A little tongue in cheek, the chorus talks about how God is either crazy or just incredibly loving:
When I read all His promises, I think He must be out of His head
Or it's just that He loves me, and I got the best end of the deal
Why don't we go with He loves me, Yeah He loves me! Yeah He loves me!
- "He Loves Me," by Enter the Worship Circle
It is pretty crazy that God loves us so much. But after all that He has done...all the times He has proven His love and goodness...Who are we to question Him? I'm just overwhelmed and grateful for His love.
« Back to Blog