A Higher Authority

“Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”

– Leviticus 20: 7-8

If you shop for groceries or cook, chances are you’ve seen them a thousand times — those special symbols on food packaging that certify its contents as kosher (literally “fit to eat”).

According to kosher food blogger Giora Shimoni, kosher food is prepared according to Jewish dietary laws, which are rules and regulations derived from Old Testament laws and rabbinical extensions to ensure quality, cleanliness, and safety. Hebrew National — a well-known brand of hotdogs — has a slogan that sums up its call to be kosher: We Answer to a Higher Authority.

Christ-followers do, too — and not just for food. Although we’re not bound by the strict Old Testament dietary laws that the Israelites followed, we still must remember that we worship a God of the highest standards. He wants us to lead healthy, Spirit-filled lives and maintain spiritually-healthy homes. And moreover, he expects us to keep our distance from the world’s anything-goes philosophy. We’re called to live differently rather than blend in.

It’s in 1 Timothy that the apostle Paul presents his three-pronged strategy for accomplishing this mission. First, he says men must recognize the dangers of overestimating their ability to endure temptation and sin, the twin maladies that can wreak havoc on our homes and families. Even King David — whom God called a man after His own heart — suffered the devastating consequences from his adulterous affair with another man’s wife. Paul’s point is that there are situations where it’s best to simply turn and run. We must therefore pick our battles with care.

On the other hand, there are some things we should pursue rather than flee — a perspective that tends to flummox society. For example, the world tells us to do whatever it takes to gain wealth and success. But since riches and fame can disappear in an instant, it’s actually our relationship with God and our family that must be our top priorities.

Lastly, Paul tells us what’s worth fighting for. If we’re not careful, our homes can suffer from the gradual — and often imperceptible — moral and spiritual erosion caused by the onslaught of modern culture. Indeed, we can find ourselves fighting outside the home while failing to lead the way for our family.

Flee, pursue and fight. As Christ-followers, we’re called by our Creator to do just that on the way to building and maintaining Spirit-filled homes — and keeping them kosher. We’re the people he chose before the foundation of the world to live out his standards. And it’s why every Believer answers to a Higher Authority.

The Enemy Within

“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

– Leviticus 16:34

If you’re a current or former smoker, no one has to tell you how hard it is to quit the habit. As the famous author and humorist Mark Twain once said: 

“To cease smoking is the easiest thing I ever did; I ought to know because I have done it a thousand times.”

The same goes for Christ-followers when it comes to sin and temptation. Even though we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, asked him for forgiveness, and then received it, we still tend to fall back into those bad habits that we thought we’d left far behind.

But doesn’t the Bible reveal that we’re a new creation once we’ve put our faith in Jesus?

It does. But the transformation from our old selves is a work in progress that’s on God’s timetable. It’s also a change that takes place little by little, day after day along our faith journey. Moreover, the journey’s pathway is narrow, twisting, and full of unexpected hairpin curves. And we can end up in a ditch if we don’t keep our eyes on the destination.

That doesn’t mean we’re failures as Christ-followers. Let’s consider a life lesson taught by Paul — the apostle, who wrote much of the New Testament. In Romans 7:15, Paul complains that he continues to do the very things he despises. And at the same time, he fails to do the things he knows he should accomplish. 

Paul’s familiar struggles were nothing less than spiritual warfare … the same ugly conflict that we all fight every day. What’s more, it’s an important reminder that sin must be dealt with before we can dwell with God. But Paul also conveys this reassurance to every Believer:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” he tells us, “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

It’s good news that means we’re now liberated from sin’s power. And since we don’t have to accept its dominance in our lives, what’s most important is our trust in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. So, when we inevitably give in to temptation and bad habits, we can freely ask for help from the One who has already paid the ultimate price for our many sins — past, present … and future.

All that Glitters

“These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”

– Leviticus 11:46-47

All that glitters is not gold. 

Popularized by Shakespeare, this familiar phrase warns that attractive appearances can be misleading — and that not everything that seems valuable on the surface is truly precious. Likewise, when it comes to gold jewelry, what you see isn’t always what you get.

Most gold jewelry is marked with a karat rating of 10k, 14k, or 18k, with the larger numbers indicating higher corresponding purities of the precious metal. But since the purest gold (like 24k) is very soft — and very expensive — metallurgists mix gold with other metals, so the resulting alloy will endure everyday wear and tear. One of the most popular ratings, 18-karat, is 75% gold mixed with a 25% alloy of silver, copper, or both. A lower-purity gold with a more affordable price tag is 14-karat. And then there’s 10-karat gold — generally the lowest purity that can still be referred to as gold. About 60% of a 10-karat gold ring represents metals other than that precious metal. And last comes the gold-filled and gold-plated jewelry that’s often sold on cable shopping channels and the internet.

People — much like gold rings and bracelets — can also look dazzling to the untrained eye. Jesus, however, has no trouble spotting cheap imitations and showy, overpriced pieces that aren’t what they seem. The Gospels reveal that Christ aimed some of his most stinging criticisms at the so-called religious people who said all the right things, appeared to be spiritual, and made a show when giving their weekly offerings. God’s holiness should have touched every part of their lives. But beneath their shiny veneer was the ugly base metal of their hearts:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites,” Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 23:27. “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.”

It’s likely that Christ would also describe some 21st century churchgoers as hypocrites. But there’s good news for those who truly desire transformation and a new life through faith in The Savior. God specializes in forming beautiful and useful examples of his handiwork from raw materials exposed to the intense heat of life’s difficulties. And it’s when life gets super-hot that our impurities are burned away. Such trials by fire leave only high-quality gold — the precious metal that’s pure and pliable enough to be formed into the effective Christ-followers that our Creator both values and desires.

     

Road Warriors

Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

– Leviticus 8:4

Think your daily commute is rough? 

Even if you’ve braved the infamous rush hours in Atlanta, Northern Virginia, New York City, or Los Angeles, count your blessings that you don’t drive in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The average daily commute in that South American metropolis lasts nearly two hours. And on peak periods, such as Friday evenings, traffic jams can stretch 112 miles.

Sao Paulo residents ("Paulistos") cope the best they can as the gridlock consumes their free time. But a sense of helplessness leaves many of these road warriors feeling angry, exhausted, and depressed. This quote from one frazzled commuter says it all:

"I feel useless, like I am a prisoner," complains Andreia de Oliveira, an architect who spends between two and three hours each day going to and from work. "I could be at the gym, studying, at home relaxing. But instead, I am stressed and frustrated."

Maybe you haven’t had to endure that level of bumper-to-bumper traffic. However, it’s likely that at one time or another, you’ve felt like things have spiraled out of control. And perhaps you feel like that today. But believe it or not, God happens to be in control of the situation.

God’s sovereignty over circumstances — and everything else, for that matter — is a fundamental concept every Christ-follower should embrace. But one reason we don't is because we can't see the big picture. We don’t know the life-changing people and situations he’ll introduce to our existence. Likewise, we don’t have his vantage point of knowing what’s around the corner and miles up the road. And obviously, it’s hard for us to see a greater purpose in our lives when we're going through the pain of unemployment, lingering illness, family problems ... and even death. 

It’s amidst such chaos that our Creator delivers this assurance:

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you,” he proclaims. “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Have things gone haywire in your life? If not, they will eventually. But don’t lose hope. God cares for each of us and even invites us to be his sons and daughters through a personal relationship with his own Son, Jesus Christ. With this Good News in mind, let’s consider these words of healing and hope from Isaiah 26:3 — a timeless promise of tranquility meant for Christ-followers like you and me:

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Dirty Laundry

“And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the Lord, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.”

– Leviticus 6:6-7

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

It’s a familiar saying that appears nowhere in the Bible, but many believe it’s the Gospel truth. We start or end most days with a hot shower or bath. We stock our bathrooms with antibacterial soaps. And we buy costly laundry detergents and bleaches promising brilliant whites and vivid colors. It all adds up to a global soap and detergent industry generating combined annual revenues exceeding $280 billion.

Our desire to stay clean seems to be hard-wired into our DNA. But this intense longing covers much more than our face and hands. We also want to be just as clean on the inside. That means a clean heart, a clean conscience, and a clean spirit. And what we want most is a clean start in life.

But in the earliest chapters of the Bible, we read that mankind chose to turn its back on God and do its own thing. We decided to live our lives on our own terms and ignore the One who made us, knows us, and loves us. And by disobeying God, we destroyed our perfect environment and became soiled with a black spot on our souls that the strongest detergent can never remove. 

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin,” pleaded King David, the one called a man after God’s own heart.

It’s this same plea that we should offer up to God every day. However, access to God is costly, and He’s holy while people are not. The good news is that our Creator long ago responded to our helplessness in a most miraculous way. But it wasn’t by devising some sort of payment plan for all the damage we’ve done to our own lives and to others. The cost was much too high for that.

Instead, God chose to pay the price himself through the death of his only Son, Jesus Christ. So, as predicted centuries earlier in the Old Testament, He came to earth in the form of a helpless infant, grew up, and lived a faultless, sin-free life. Later, He was unjustly executed although He’d done no wrong.

Christ’s crucifixion was grossly unfair. But there was no other way to fully pay the penalty that we alone deserve. He was the perfect sacrifice, who came to earth to make us right with God. For you and me, it means when we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, God sees us as spotless and blameless like his Son. All we need to do is accept this free — yet incredibly costly — gift of grace.

“I, the LORD, invite you to come and talk it over,” says our Creator through the book of Isaiah. “Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool.”

Now’s the time to wash our dirty laundry ... and come clean with God.

Elephants and Angels

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

– Luke 24: 31-32

There's an old story about three blindfolded men, who were asked to touch and identify an undisclosed object. And that object happened to be a live African elephant.

The first man touched the elephant's muscular trunk. The second man grasped its boney tale. And the third man — moving his hands across the beast's rugged hide — marveled at the rough texture. Although a 10,000-pound elephant was right in front of them, all three failed to see the big picture.

Many people these days also miss the big picture when it comes to spiritual matters. And that's even true for some long-time Christ-followers. So, to correct this shortsightedness, God has throughout history communicated his message in several ways, including through prophets, Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and of course his Son, Jesus.

God also uses angels to help spread the word. These beings are his special messengers who can appear in broad daylight, remain invisible, or communicate through dreams. The Bible advises us to remain hospitable because we might be entertaining angels without even knowing it.

Angelic messages are much more than words of conversation. Instead, they’re words that change eternity. It's in Luke’s gospel that we read about the angel Gabriel, who told an obscure girl named Mary that she’d soon give birth to the Savior of mankind. In a dream, an angel informed Joseph (Mary's fiancé) that the Holy Spirit had caused her pregnancy. Likewise, angels announced the Good News of Jesus' birth to shepherds, who’d seen a brilliant star in the sky marking the Christ-child’s location in Bethlehem.

It's through these revelations and confirmations that God has opened eyes and healed spiritual blindness — and not just in a tiny village somewhere in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. His big picture message continues to appear today … and unfold to the entire world. 

It's the reality that's right before our eyes. But first, we must be willing to see it. So, here’s the BIG question for you and me: Are we spiritually aware of how Jesus is revealing Himself in both small ways and large? 

That’s the elephant in the room.

City of Joy

He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

– Luke 23:25

Our nation is divided politically, affordable housing is scarce, and the cost of living is on the rise. It’s hard to think of anything to feel joyous about these days. However, millions around the world would do just about anything to trade places with us. That’s because even the poorest of our fellow citizens are considered rich (at least statistically) when compared with the rest of humanity. And despite its many imperfections, inequities, and injustices, America the Beautiful is still the Land of Opportunity.

If that thought doesn’t brighten your day, maybe the City of Joy will put things in perspective. In his book of the same name, author Dominique Lapierre wrote about Anand Nagar (The City of Joy), which is a slum in the center of Kolkata, India. Its residents are of different castes and religions, but they help each other unceasingly amidst grinding poverty and injustice. As one book critic observed, Lapierre met people there who possessed nothing — yet seemed to have everything.

The City of Joy is a place where the innocent thrive on poverty because of their zest for life and freedom from care. In fact, Lapierre found more heroism, joy, and happiness in the Indian slums than in many cities of the affluent West. The residents’ unlikely perspective on life turned a place of darkness into a City of Joy.

It was 2,000 years earlier that Jesus called his disciples the Light of the World. And that’s still his vision for you and me today. Through our faith in Christ, we have access to our Creator — a loving Father who hears our prayers and looks for ways to bless us. So, no matter how dire our situation may be, we already know that our story will end on a very positive note. 

Every Believer is called to reach the world with our Savior’s joyous message of grace, light, and joy. Likewise, we’re to show compassion and convey truth to a broken, dark, and unjust world. As Proverbs 31: 8-9 directs us:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.