DId God Really Say…

February 19, 2024

Read Leviticus 6, Psalm 50, Hebrews 6

What do you remember learning in your elementary school years? Shapes, colors, reading, writing, basic math? Maybe you picked up a trade like sewing, gardening, or cooking. I remember learning the basics of music like rhythm, harmony, and playing the annoying little flute like recorder and hurting everyone’s ears.

There are elementary truths we can learn about any subject; this includes the Word of God. We learn that God is Holy, compassionate, good, merciful, gracious, and forgiving. It’s always good to never lose sight of these elementary teaches from the Bible, but at the same time we do not need to stay with just these basic teachings for other deeper teachings in these areas.

In Psalm 50 God speaks boldly here. He tells Israel that He doesn’t need anything from his creation. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills” vv. 9-10. Later God rebukes those in Israel who simply recite God’s laws but do not care anything for it. He sees right through their lip service. “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? ¹⁷ You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you” vv. 16-17. There are people in our world today that try to shame righteous Christians by using God’s own words against them. They make a play on their compassion. It’s a no-win solution. If Christians do something they don’t like they cry, “That’s too much you went too far!” Then When Christians do something for the Lord and they don’t like it they cry just the opposite, “You didn’t do enough, you should have done this too!”

In Hebrews 6 the author challenges us to “leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity” v. 1. He names some things such as repentance, faith in God, baptism, praying for others, and the resurrection and judgment that is to come. Reading that list made me wonder how many people would see those topics as elementary today. We seem to be stuck on the love of God in the culture we live in today. All the surveys tell us that people are more biblically illiterate than ever before. This is why we must stay in God’s Word and have a steady intake of it in our lives. Have you taken a spiritual inventory of your knowledge from the Word of God? No matter what you would place yourself, novice, beginner, intermediate, or advanced, we all have work to do, and we all have room to grow in our knowledge of God’s Word.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stick out to you?
Add your thoughts below?

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