R³ Devotional - Day 51

As we read Leviticus, we are learning with great amount of detail how God gave specific laws and instructions to his people. God is a holy God, and if his people wanted to be in his presence, they needed to purify themselves the way he requested them to do it.

Chapter 22

On chapter 21, God is addressing instructions specifically to the priests on how to avoid uncleanliness, form a family and many other qualifications related to their duty.  Today, we keep on with several instructions on how they must respect the offerings dedicated to God and the description God gives them on which offerings are acceptable.

Chapter 23

Seven feasts are appointed by God and each one of them is described on how they must be celebrated.

Real: Life Principles

• Respect and integrity are enforced: God wanted his people to be holy and to present offerings properly, since He is holy. The priests had to be respectful of what the people had prepared with so much love and respect. It was mandatory for them to be pure as well to present the offering to the Lord.
  
  
• Aaron and his family had enormous responsibility being the priests for the Israelites.
  
  
• The Lord who sanctifies you (Lev. 22:32c): Thanks God is him! We can’t do this on our own.
  
  
• The Sabbath: Rest and worship. We are made for more than just working. God created a day for his people to rest, get together and praise him.
  
  
• In a nutshell, the different feasts served to remember how God freed them from slavery, the importance of honoring Him, his Holiness, and his provision by presenting the first fruits
  
  

Relevant: Life Applications

• Are we living what we preach? Daily let’s keep checking our minds and hearts, as Christians we are called to live in integrity.
  
  
• Jesus was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice given by God. When we accept Him, we become part of his family, a holy priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Every day we are called and must be more like Jesus, leave our old self behind. We are commanded to share the gospel with others.
   
• Thanks to the amazing gift God gave us through Jesus, we don’t longer need to make sacrifices like the Israelites did. When we accept Him, our sanctification process begins and it will keep on until we have the joy of living in heaven.
   
• As Christians, Sabbath became the Lord’s Day. Every Sunday is our day to rest and get together to worship. God has given us that time, we must enjoy it.
  
  
• All the feasts give us a hint of what Jesus was going to do for humanity and remind us that God provides.
  
  

Ready: Life Actions

• How do we live in integrity? Pray and dwell in God’s word daily. As we read his word and pray, each day we can check our hearts and correct anything that is wrong. (Psalm 5, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  
  
• Ask God to be more like Jesus every day and let Him work in your life.
   
• Thank God always he gave us Jesus! His sacrifice was perfect. He had no blemish and covered ALL our sins.
  
  
• We need to rest. It is a gift God gave us to enjoy! Every Sunday, as we rest from our jobs, studying and other activities we might do daily or throughout the week, we are invited to worship and grow together in the house of the Lord. Do your best not to miss it.
   
• If its the case you work on Sundays, on your day off, rest and spend time with the Lord. If there is a Life Group that gets together that day, try to join it so you can enjoy growing in his word collectively.
   
• Today we don’t celebrate all the feasts mentioned in Chapter 23, but as believers we have two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism symbolizes our death to sin and resurrection to our new life in Christ. Once we are baptized, we partake the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of the redemption that Jesus achieved in the cross, releasing us from sin.
    

We have a truly awesome God. We are living under his grace, let’s make each day count for His Glory! God bless you!