relationships (Leviticus 17:1-16) Put the Lord First

(Leviticus 17:1-16)  Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, 3 “Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7 They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.”’

8 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

10 ‘And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’ 12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’ 13 So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

14 “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ 15 When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION: 

Where there is sin there is death, requiring blood to be shed.  And verse 11 is prophesying and explaining how Jesus' blood that was shed on the cross paid for all sin, for all time, in order to make atonement for all people - so that - anyone can go to Him for forgiveness and eternal life with Him.  In the Lord's blood there is life!  

Jesus' work on the cross was also retroactive, so anyone before that time who had placed their faith, trust and belief in the Lord was saved - and - was a "Christian".  Read verse 11 again carefully, the Lord speaks in the present tense (for that time as well as for now).  Whoever goes to Jesus to repent of their sins and believe in Him, His blood provides atonement and gives life!  It is only in this way that we can have a close, personal relationship with God. 

Jesus is also the living water who washes us clean for all eternity.   Because of His grace, we can never lose our salvation.  As we are children of God, He will never disown us.  We will still sin and stray away at times, but He is always there waiting for us to continue pursing a relationship with Him!  Just like bathing regularly to stay clean and feeling comfortable, it benefits us to confess our sins as soon as we are aware of them.  

Let me speak from my experience!  Only in the recent decade did I realize the value of confessing my sins.  In the past, I'd just realize that I needed to get back to being close to God.  Once in a while I would admit to myself, "Okay, that was wrong and stupid" but I didn't feel like I had to "confess", since God had forgiven me of all my sins when I became a Christian at the age of four.  Then one day as I was having a heart to heart with the Lord, I admitted AND confessed that something was a sin!  Wow!  What a turning point!  AND the Lord fixed the situation FOR me!!!

These ah-ha moments will happen.  God knows we will not be perfect, this is why He extends His grace to us.  And He was designed it so we are not alone.  He is ALWAYS with us, and we have an extended family of believers around to help.  As we all grow closer to God, we will grow closer to each other.  

The key is always to love God first, though.  Society has it backwards, putting people first.  This is when one allows their flesh to run amok and control things.  This is how we can so very easily stray away from God.  And in doing so - we are "sacrificing to goat demons".  If we do not put God first in our lives, who are we really worshipping and chasing after?  It most certainly will be something to confess!