Uncleanness
I know this sounds crazy, but this chapter of Leviticus with all the "unclean" rules reminds me of God's incredible proactivity. Here, he tries to protect his people from eating things that could lead to sickness & disease for which they had no treatment or cure. But, with all our medicines, doctors, and technological medical advances we take His call to purity and clean living rather lightly. Still, life is God's masterpiece and He knows how it works. He also understands death. Much of God's will is a mystery, but it is no mystery that He longs for us to live an abundant life. So, I think we could learn a lot from studying God's plan for what we should and shouldn't eat. Don't you ever wonder why the church has the exact same (or worse) statistics as the world for heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes? I do. Often the cycle goes, God asks us to purify our lives. Unwilling to do the hard work of changing old habits, make strong commitments or increase our discipline we resist, and eventually enter into a lifestyle of sin. He offers mercy & love, but frustrated by His request we continue to resist His call for cleanness and suffer. Eventually, we're so miserable and desperate for help we repent, and begin the purification process designed from the beginning to save us from suffering that can result from unclean living. Every Bible hero I can think of has lived through this cycle and so do we. Remember Sampson? He was living large and in-charge until he disobeyed God sharing his strength-secrets with Delilah. He suffered greatly, but finally realized what needed to be done. He asked God for a second chance to do His will with a pure heart and he got it... but it cost him his life. Still, I think God's proactive nature offers hope. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention = a pound of cure. If we live with a clean and pure heart and body right from the start (today!), we save ourselves years of exhaustive cleaning up down the line. God, create in ME a clean heart and a clean body. In Jesus name.
