01/12/08

Hearken to the Word

Deuteronomy 28:1,2 - And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

The Lord is most understanding; He is not like a human judge who holds you for every law of the book. When it comes to the Lord, He tells us to do the best according to our understanding and according to the Word that is spoken unto us. If there was something which was wrong which you were doing and you were not aware of, the Lord does not pull you up for it. He has gone to the extent to creation a sacrifice of guilt (Lev 4:1-20, Mark 26:26-28) which is specially to take care of these matters. Jesus made this sacrifice available to us forever through his broken body in the bread He shared with us. But when there is something that is known to us as the Lord speaks to us and yet we do it; it is considered a serious sin.

So let us not take the Word that is spoken to us lightly and keep it always before our eyes that we abide by it and we do not test the Lord's wrath.


[ Prayer Starter ]

Father God, I thank You for the patience You have with me. May your grace be on me and strengthen me that I abide in the Word which You have spoken unto me. Merciful God I pray that your mercy flow abundantly on me. I ask this in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]

Leviticus 4:1-6, 13-20
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them,
3 'if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering.
4 'He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull's head, and kill the bull before the LORD.
5 'Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull's blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting.
6 'The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
13 'Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which should not be done, and are guilty;
14 'when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting.
15 'And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD. Then the bull shall be killed before the LORD.
16 'The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull's blood to the tabernacle of meeting.
17 'Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil.
18 'And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
19 'He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar.
20 'And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.

Matthew 26:26-28
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28 "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mark 12:29-34
29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.
31 "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
32 So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
33 "And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that no one dared question Him.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)