August 25, 2020

The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let’s seek this ancient way together as a church!

This chapter begins with a significant statement which helps set us up to understand the rest of the chapter as well as the Law as a whole. Moses tells the people of Israel that they are the sons of the Lord their God, and that God has chosen them out of all the peoples on the face of the planet to be a special and holy people unto Himself. 

The fact that God intended for this people to be holy, set apart, unique, distinct from every other people on the earth, helps us to understand at least in part why God commands them the way that He does concerning food laws. This may seem strange or obscure, or even somewhat boring to us, but at least part of the point is that God wants His people to be so holy, so different from all the other peoples, that even the food they consume looks different from the rest of the world!

This concern for the distinctness and holiness of God’s people comes through in the commands concerning tithes as well. The people were to set apart a tenth of all that they produced and bring it to contribute it to the Temple each year, as well as setting it apart for those who had nothing to partake of it every three years. While many in the church today might see the giving of tithes as an obligation, the people of Israel were to see it as a delight, an act of worshipful response to what God has done for them that year. They were to rejoice in giving it (v.26)!

All of these things demonstrate the need for God’s people to be holy. Holiness is more than simply morally righteous behavior; it is distinctness from everything else, and this means that God’s people are to look different in every aspect of their lives in view of God’s grace towards them. The question then becomes, how different from the surrounding culture do we really look in our lives? Have we settled for looking different from the world around us in how we choose to spend our Sunday mornings and perhaps a bit of our time, being distinct from the world in little else? Where have we unwittingly compromised with the culture around us when we should be distinct from it?

God calls us, as His chosen and beloved people, to a level of holiness which surpasses the way in which many of us live and which affects the way we live in every area of our lives. He calls us to live not as citizens of nation but of an eternal Kingdom. He calls us to be distinct, because He is distinct: there is no one like our God! Are we really living this way?

Deuteronomy 14

Clean and Unclean Food

14 “You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

3 “You shall not eat any abomination. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7 Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.8 And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

9 “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

11 “You may eat all clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17 and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 All clean winged things you may eat.

21 “You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithes

22 “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23 And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26 and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

28 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How do we find the balance between celebrating the good things in our culture and still looking so different from it in every aspect of our lives? What areas have you compromised with our culture where you should be looking distinct from it?

12 thoughts on “Daily Devotional-August 25”

  1. Dear Heavenly Father,
    Help us to show ourselves workmen unashamed to stand boldly for You. Hold us accountable in every way to You in reputation, deeds, and in every aspect of our lives. Let our lights shine so brightly that others will be led to You. Thank You, dear Lord for Your everlasting love and grace. In Jesus name, Amen.

  2. Lord Jesus thank you for this day. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. For You are Holy Holy Holy. Salvation is Your Name Amen.

  3. Dear Lord help me live my life that will be pleasing to you worshiping you and you only! Amen.

    2. AMEN and HALLELUJAh!! Dear Lord I praise you and will forever will lift you high. I want to be in your glory. I will never stir away from you. You are glorious and forever will be mine. I want to please in every way. You are my Lord and Savior. Please keep everyone safe from hurricane Laura. In Jesus name I pray AMEN, ????❤❤❤❤

  5. Heavenly Father,

    You are the creator of the heavens and the earth. I bow before you thanking you for calling me to be your son.

    Transform me today before others. May they see your reflection in me. May they only hear words from you from my mouth. I may be the only form of God that many may see and hear. May the see and hear only you.

    Father guide me along today’s path and equipment to do my part in your kingdom building. May angels in heaven rejoice this day for new souls that will be added to the kingdom.

    Here I am, LORD, use me.

    Amen.

    1. Thank you for this wonderful prayer that should be our guide, not only for this day, but every day.

  6. Thank you Father for your holiness. Thank you that it has pleased you to set me apart in this fallen world. It is not easy sometimes father to maintain that distinctness you have called me to be, but I believe that through the finished work of my Saviour Jesus, I am strong, I am distinct, I am holy. Thank you for your forgiveness. Father, my deepest desire is to obey
    your command help me to be who you have called me to be. May I be a fragrance of Christ to all I meet today and tomorrow, and always. I love you Lord, thank you for loving me first. It is in Jesus name I pray with much thanksgiving????. Amen!

  8. Thank you Lord for choosing me, for giving me a way to live that sets me apart, reflects your uniqueness, is for my benefit and your glory. Thank you for providing abundantly for me, so that you can provide to others, through my generous sacrifice.

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