Bacon Cheesburger

Have you ever tried reading Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy all the way through? I’m currently reading through the Bible on my Bible app (it’s a 365 day plan and marks off the days as you read...  I love it!). Anyway, I’m finally onto Joshua. I say “finally” because Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are tough books to hold your interest. It’s a bunch of numbering people, a bunch of laws, and not much story line.

I googled “random laws of the Old Testament.” Here’s an example...

In Exodus 23:19 it commands not to cook a goat in its mother’s milk. Some interpreters see this as a ban on mixing meat and cheese. Additionally, Leviticus 11:3 permits the eating of animals with divided hooves that chew the cud only. So you couldn’t eat horses, because even though they chewed the cud, they didn’t have a divided hoof. And even though pigs had divided hooves, they didn’t chew the cud. In that case, I guess the meaty, cheesey, bacony deliciousness that is the Baconator would have to be taken of the Wendy’s menu.

Through reading these books, one thing is clear... I’m glad God had me live after Jesus came to Earth.

Galatians 4:1-7 (New Living Translation)

1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Because of Jesus, we do not need to be restrained by the all of the laws of the Old Testament. We are set free because of His death and resurrection! Now this doesn’t mean to go crazy... we still need to follow God’s commandments. Rules and laws are there for a reason. Like I tell my third graders, if we didn’t have rules – things would be pure chaos. Our lives would be a mess! But, in the Old Testament, God needed to make plenty of laws so that the Israelites knew what sin was.  Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came. The Holy Spirit is the one that convicts us of sin. The law is written on our hearts when we accept Christ as our Savior. It wasn’t until Christ came — the fulfillment of the law, that humans (Christians) had God’s law written on their hearts.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV) says,

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Later in Matthew, some scribes ask Jesus, "Which is the greatest commandment?" Jesus tells them that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart mind body and soul and the second is like the first which is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-34 NIV). Love can do no wrong to its’ neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).

What Jesus demonstrated time and time again in the four gospels and during His earthly ministry was that people cannot fulfill the law on their own, that they need to turn to God and stop trying to be righteous by their own forms of self-righteousness.

And, because I'm a teacher - here's where some of my information came from :-) http://www.truthcannotbesilent.org/Journal.asp?JID=191&TID=15

Questions:

1.       What is an outdated rule that you used to have to follow but does not apply to you anymore (example: “come home when the street lights come on”, must be buckled into a car seat, etc..)

2.       What rules do you see people following that seem unnecessary and even like they are causing more problem then helping.

3.       “Now you are no longer a _______ but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his __________.”

4.       Take a minute and journal about this passage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written by Melissa McKechnie