If I remember correctly, Leviticus is where we originally started....all those years ago.
I kept reading this line. Both in the herd instructions and the flock instructions. I can't for the life of me figure it out. So, I googled it...not sure it helps find deeper meaning. But, maybe.
This is one of those “bitter water” verses that it is hard to wade through, and even harder to tap deeper truths from. It feels very different from the wells and springs of living water that God has been sharing with me over the last several months. What deep meaning can I glean from washing animal guts and legs in water? Maybe nothing….perhaps there are times in our lives when we just have to do something because God asks us to do it. Kind of like “taking out the garbage”. It needs to be done, no one really likes to do it, and most of us would admit to the occasional grumble when we are doing it. Then again maybe God has a “hidden well” for me here in the desert.
Are there things in our spiritual lives and our lives as Christians that are somewhat like washing entrails and animal legs? Things that we do just because God told us to do them. Investing time and energy in messy relationships and people comes to mind. Also some of the more mundane work of the church can seem hard and laborious at times. I have to admit that there have been times when I was sitting through the fourth hour of a session meeting at church that it felt a lot like “taking out the garbage”. In fact reflecting on this passage feels that way a bit too…but hang in there I think God has revealed a hidden well.
The somewhat tricky part about obeying God is being sure that God is calling us to do something in the first place, especially if the thing we are being called to do seems a bit crazy — like “washing entrails and animal legs”. I can almost hear Aaron and his sons asking Moses “you want me to do what with the animal guts….are you sure…let’s pray about that again.” So how do we know the difference between God’s spirit directing us to step out of our comfort zone and something we are doing for self interest or to please others? I think we need to develop and exercise our discernment skills — our “spiritual whiskers” so we can sense the subtle leading of the Holy Spirit. It also helps to seek out the wisdom and discernment of others Christians to make sure we are not headed off into “left field” or just plain crazy:)
thanks for sharing that, I was getting nothing from that chapter. It actually speaks to the opposite of what we talked about in the prior chapter. We were saying how it must be nice to have such clear direction from God, but the commentary you shared talked about exercising our ability to discern. I think that is interesting, if I'm not using that muscle it would get weaker. I also have had discernment be described as a gift. But maybe there are some degrees, its probably not black and white. So its an interesting take to get our of this chapter.
ReplyDeleteknut