(Deuteronomy 14:1-29) “You are the sons of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 “You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 “You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29 The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Today, there are still religions that have people doing different things to or on their body. There are still religions that sacrifice and give to their various gods. And there are still religions where they will feed and eat with their gods. God created us to worship and serve Him, as well as to have a close relationship with Him. In this way, we are able to fellowship with the Lord our Savior as well as those around us. Therefore, to be set apart from the world, is to BE a believer in Christ, and take on His traits of love, grace, peace and joy.
We don't have to move away from the world, in fact, we are to be in the world but not be of the world; otherwise, how will we witness to others. We are not to look like a cult follower or a criminal, but we don't have to dress dowdy! It is not about our physical appearance, and it is not about pretending to appear perfect. Believe it or not, when we unintentionally hurt someone and then apologize and reconcile speaks volumes. To "look" different from the world is to love others unconditionally with the love of Christ. And the way we treat our fellow Christians will also be a shining testimony. How we live our lives will back up the good news that we share.
The biggest way we will be set apart from the world is that we worship the Lord God Jesus Christ - ONLY. And we will give our tithes and offerings to Him (via our church), as well as help the weak and vulnerable. And by saying grace before each meal, we are inviting the Lord to "eat with us" - in His presence. To be praying without ceasing is to consciously stay at the Lord's side in everything.
People will notice a difference. Some people will fear that and even be agitated, but those who are seeking, will be curious and want to know more. And in all these situations, we should keep asking God to direct our actions and words in order to demonstrate His love.
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