Deuteronomy 14:1-29


The children of Israel were set apart by God and He gave them specific laws about what they were to eat and were not to eat.  Some of these laws had a lot to do with the health of the people but it was also a test of their loyalty to do what God required.  Today’s text has two basic principles that I think are important for us to remember.

AS BELIEVERS WE NEED TO LIMIT OUR LIBERTY: The dietary laws that God gave the children of Israel do not apply to us today.  God made it very clear that believers today do not need to follow these laws.  However, there is a principle of obeying God that we must follow in the laws that He has given us.  If we are going to follow God there are going to be many times when we are going to have to limit our own liberty in order to further His kingdom.  We must never allow our own comfort or the desires of our flesh be the controlling factor in our lives.  We need to be willing to limit our liberty in order to please the Lord.

AS BELIEVERS WE NEED TO PRACTICE GENEROSITY: The children of Israel were called to give a tithe of all of their produce and all of their animals.  This was to be presented to the Lord as an act of worship.  We should not treat this as a legalistic requirement to give ten percent of all we make but be much more concerned that our hearts are generous before the Lord and we seek our greatest joy in being able to participate in the work that He is doing in the world.  A ten percent figure should be looked at as a starting point but not some rule that we need to keep.  God is far more concerned with our hearts than the mathematics behind our giving.

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