“You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean” (Lev 20:25).
The Israelites were called to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They were to be concerned with those things which would cause them to be abominable to the Lord. The good news was the Lord did not leave them to figure it out on their own. He gave them a list of clean and unclean animals for dietary consumption. He did not ask them to do what He did not equip them to do.
God calls us to distinguish between clean and unclean today, as well. We are to be a holy people separated to our God while at the same time living and working in a world filled with things clean and unclean. We be discerning about the things we practice and participate in. God did not call us out of the world, but to be different in the world.
This directive made a difference between clean and unclean and the word for those who choose the unclean is abominable (detestable). In our New Testament experience it is not food which makes us clean and unclean. Jesus explained it was not what went into the body which makes a person unclean, but what comes from the heart (Matthew 5:16-20).
What are you letting into your heart? What are you taking in from the world around you? Are you discerning between the clean and the unclean? Are you concerned with personal holiness? Yes; Jesus paid it all on the Cross and our sins are covered, but we must maintain the life He died to give us. We are saved and we can have assurance of our salvation, but we need to continue in a lifestyle of salvation, a lifestyle of holiness. For the promise to those who abide is fullness of life (John 10:10, 15:1-6).
Lord, open my eyes to see anywhere I am not living fully for you. I do not want to live a life which does not reflect the goodness of what you have done for me. Give me discernment and wisdom to walk a life of holiness unto You. May my life bear the fruit abiding in You and You in me.
In Jesus’s Name and for His glory ~ Amen.