Introduction
Hello all. My name is Seth and this is your daily devotion. I have to admit something to all of you and I am not afraid to do so. There are some Biblical laws that I wish were not laws. I simply don’t fully understand why God put them in place.
Here’s an example. Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Yes, I understand that a heterosexual relationship is the natural way to bear children and it was clearly designed to be the norm. However, it’s also been discovered that children can be born naturally by using bone marrow instead of sperm, meaning that two women can have a girl that carries both of their genetics.
On a personal note, it would be much easier if I were allowed to tell people that homosexuality was perfectly ok so that they wouldn’t feel excluded or discriminated against. Knowing what the Bible says though, I can’t do that in good conscience. I would be lying.
I could go on, but what’s important to remember is this. It doesn’t matter what I think.
The Truth Matters More
John 8:31-32 “ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
We face a sort of conundrum where we want everyone to go to Heaven, but there’s only one way to get there and not everyone likes it. Freedom is choosing our own paths, but only one path leads to freedom. How then can we have both? That’s the thing, we can’t.
It seems like we’re an entitled people, being told that all of our thoughts and feelings are important. We should embrace and share “our truths”. Perspective is important, don’t get me wrong, but at what point do we look past ourselves to see the bigger picture. Our perspective is limited our feelings are selfish and narrow-minded. Have we considered that perhaps God made His laws the way they are because He knows something we don’t? No, but instead we delegitimize any concept we don’t understand and change the meaning of His word to suit our desires. How dangerous is that?
Tell the Truth
The fact is that there is only one right way to live, to work, to behave, and so on. This is in scripture and if we believe that it’s true, we have a responsibility to uphold the word of God and inform others. We cannot say or encourage anything contrary or we will deceive those around us. To create chaos and confusion is the work of evil and God will not stand for it. It’s time for the followers of Christ to make an important decision. Do we make the painful decision to stand for what is true and righteous or do we take the easy way out and tell the world whatever it wants to hear?
Think of it this way. The people you love, family, friends, etc., are looking to you to tell them the words they need to hear. If you tell them the truth, they may hate you, because they’re held responsible for their actions and their one way to salvation means giving up their ways. Still, your words grant them an opportunity at eternal life. If you lie to them, they will be pleased with you and go on their merry way, but your falsehoods will become their shackles and they will be imprisoned by them until they die and even after that. Remember that truth grants freedom and the only real truth is in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion/Prayer
Ultimately, we don’t have any authority over this law. We’re simply messengers. We wrote none of it. Let this be a comfort to us, because having the power that God has means having the responsibility that he bears. We couldn’t handle it. If we want to embrace what is true, we have to take ourselves out of the equation. We must die to self and surrender our freedom. That’s the only way we can receive it. Go out and proclaim what is true, even if it hurts, and sometimes it will. Even still, temporary pain is preferable to eternal suffering. Let’s pray on this.
Lord, it’s because you love us that you tell us the things we may find unbearable. You are not a cruel master who restrains us. You are a wise leader, who makes clear the path of righteousness and advises against our self destructive behaviors. When will we learn to cast away our perceptions and lean on the truth of Your word? I pray that you pierce our hearts and cause us to recognize Your perfection and shun our perspectives. We ask this in Your mighty name. Amen.
That’s all I’ve got for you. Go in peace.