Discipline

Leviticus 1-14 takes a lot of discipline to stick with. I think that Leviticus gets a bad wrap. It can be boring yes. But to me Leviticus is rich with showing us how to worship God. Leviticus lists many ways to sacrifice to God because of our sin. The great thing is the ultimate sacrifice was made by Jesus Christ and we no longer have to abide by Leviticus but what can we learn today. For one we can learn the reverence of worshipping God. Leviticus is very particular about what to do when worshipping God. In some instances when worshipping the presence of God was so great the Israelites fell on their faces. When was the last time the presence of God was so great that we did that? There is particular emphasis on taking care of yourself especially when in God's presence. I think if we all treated coming before God as holy and reverent as it is spelled out in Leviticus we can provide an environment where God can move.

We need to contextualize what reverence today looks like. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Being with God during your week

2. Taking care of your health (eating right, exercising, etc.... which is why I am doing this 90 day plan)

3. Loving well. Why is it that pagan's love others better than Christians? Ask any waiter or waitress what they feel when they see someone praying before their meal. I will tell you they feel they might get treated poorly and definitely short changed on their tip. This isn't right. There are other examples. I think we don't love well because we don't know how deal with our issues.

4. Deal with your issues. Pagan's love better than us because they can deal with their issues easier because they aren't as afraid of what others think than we are in the church. We have to create an environment in the church where people can talk about their issues and not looked down upon. It is natural for people in the church not to tell others their issues because you lose status in the church if you have issues. In the world typically nothing is gained nor lost based on issues. Because pagans know everyone has them. To find people who deal with their issues is easy. Take a risk and open up to someone and deal with them.

5. Passionately pursue the lost. Lost people matter to God and he wants them in His church. This is how we are reverent to God. We provide environments where lost people find Him.