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You cannot go wherever you want (Leviticus 16:2), July 24, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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  1. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  2. As much as we might think we can, we cannot go wherever we want. Moses learned that a long time ago.
  3. Scripture
    1. Leviticus 16:2
    2. Go, talk to Aaron, and warn him that he cannot go whenever he wants…
  4. Devotional
    1. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m using another warfighter story today since I’m still deep into a training exercise for a medical command this week. I think it will illustrate my point pretty clearly, though.
    2. We have the units operating on a linear battlefield at the moment. When combat units fight side by side in that fashion, they have what are called lines of coordination that determine exactly where their left and right boundaries are so they reduce the risk of firing into friendly forces. That boundary is usually an easily recognizeable feature like a road or river or some other terrain feature that won’t change despite the intensity of the battle. And one of the units, not both, will own the feature, the road, river, or whatever it might be.
    3. So units don’t go into each others territory without prior coordination. One unit’s soldiers don’t cross the line without coordinating with their adjacent unit first. The reason is easily understood. If you cross the boundary without coordination, you might get shot by friendly force. Not a good thing for anyone. So units warn their soldiers where they cannot go. Don’t cross this road. Don’t cross this river. Don’t go over this hill. Stay out of the adjacent unit’s area. You can’t go wherever you want!
    4. It’s true in our everyday life. We find barriers on the road. One way signs, road blocks, locked doors. Physical barriers that keep us out of places that unless we have the proper authority, we cannot enter those places. I can pretty much guarantee that most if not everyone who hears this has never personally seen the gold in sitting in Fort Knox. We cannot go there. We cannot go wherever we want. If we tried, we would be turned away. If we tried by using force, we would be met with equal or greater force and be turned away. I can assure you that you cannot get to the gold in Fort Knox. It is protected from intrusion and theft and you cannot go there. You cannot see it. You cannot go wherever you want.
    5. There are some severe consequences for overstepping your bounds if you cross physical barriers that are there to restrict your movement. Another example are the barriers our law enforcement personnel put in place during flash floods. Some people are foolish enough to think the barriers don’t apply to them and find themselves caught in the torrent of water grasping on whatever they can when their car is washed off the road. The near death experience and $2500 fine helps remind them you cannot go wherever you want.
    6. All of these examples talk about physical space, but what about our behavior? What about our spiritual lives? What about pushing past the fence that God puts in place to keep us from suffering the consequences of sinful behavior. His laws keep us in line. His laws are much like telling our kids not to put their hand in the flame. Don’t go there, you’ll get burned.
    7. God tells us, don’t do these things. There are consequeces you don’t want to pay if you cross these boundaries. You cannot go wherever you want.
    8. If we would just listen to Him. If we would just pay attention to the warning signs He puts in our path and then refuse to go around them, our journey of life would progress so much better. We would find ourselves with so much more joy and find our priorities ordered properly in the things we face every day.
    9. We understand in our daily lives we cannot go wherever we want. It’s important we apply that same understanding to our behavior and our spiritual lives. Otherwise there are consequences we do not want to pay.
  5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
  6. Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com

 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Just stay away from the fence (Mark 7:6-16) July 31, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Thessalonians 4-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:6-16
Jesus: Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,

These people honor Me with words off their lips;
meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.
Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.
They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.
When you cling blindly to your own traditions such as washing utensils and cups, you completely miss God’s command. Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.” And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.” But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind. (to the crowd that had gathered) Listen, all of you, to this teaching. I want you to understand. There is nothing outside someone that can corrupt him. Only the things that come out of a person can corrupt him. All who have ears to hear, let them listen.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We get so hung up in good rules that help us maintain a healthy, good, righteous life, one that keeps us away from those dens of iniquity that would tempt us and easily cause us to fall, that we forget what God really calls us to do. What God really wants from us is a change of heart. He wants to transform us from the inside out. It’s the repentance that turns us away from the world and toward Him that He longs for in us. Not obedience to a set of rules. That’s what the scribes and Pharisees couldn’t understand when Jesus spoke.

The rulers had memorized, adhered to, and enforced their rules for so long, they forgot why they were given to them in the first place. God gave Moses the law, not to become a burden and limit their enjoyment of life, but to show them the boundaries that would keep them in His will where they would enjoy the good things He had created for them.

Think about the fences a rancher places around his pastures. Those fences are to protect his cattle. He knows the kinds of grass and water and feed he puts within the limits of those fences. There are no poisons within those boundaries. No wells or springs that will cause the cattle to fall ill. No weeds or grasses that will hurt them. No unknown vegetation that will make them weak or injury them in any way. The rancher travels back and forth across the pasture often to make sure it is free from everything except the best kind of feed for his cattle to make sure they are healthy and well fed.

That’s what God’s laws are like. They are the boundaries beyond which poisons exist that will pollute, weaken, and destroy our soul. They are the fences God erects to make sure we understand the limits to which we cannot cross and expect to remain spiritually whole and clean and pure in relationship with the creator.

Too often, though, we live at the fence line, just like a lot of cattle you see as you drive by those ranches. They poke their heads through trying to reach those grasses just outside the fence thinking they must taste better than the grass the rancher sowed just for them that fills the entire pasture behind them. Like those cattle we try to poke our head through the fences of God’s laws. We try to test the fence, push it past what He says is the limit. We try to tell God what His rules should be instead of just living within the great pasture He provides for us.

Are the rules important? Sure. They keep us from the poisons outside the fence. But when we let the rules become our god. We’ve gone too far. When we live at the fence, we miss the special food God prepares for His children in the middle of His pasture. Just like the rancher doesn’t put the best grass seed at the fence line, neither does God. He wants us to come close to Him, in the middle of His kingdom. He invites us into His home, and that’s not at the fence.

The Pharisees focused on rules. Jesus focused on our heart. The Pharisees focused on the fence line. Jesus focused on God’s home. The Pharisees focused on what we should not do. Jesus focused on what we should do. The Pharisees’ lives were full of negatives. Jesus’ life was full of positives. So why is it so many people want to follow the way of the rule watchers instead of life giver? Why do so many flock to the list keeper instead of the One who frees us from the list and gives us the pasture to get our fill?

Yes, rules are important, but when you live in the center of the pasture, you never have to worry about getting your head caught in the fence in the first place. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.