Friday night began Passover and with it commenced the Feast of Unleavened Bread or as I affectionately refer to it the FOUB. Most people are at least familiar with Passover, but the FOUB, not so much. The FOUB is a seven day period in which Israel was commanded to not eat any bread with leaven (yeast). The day before Passover, Preparation Day, every Jew is to search their home for leaven, including bread crumbs that may have fallen from the table or even in the cracks of the table, bundle it all up and burn it. For seven days only unleavened bread, matzah, is to be eaten.
"What in the world does leaven and the FOUB have to do with me," you may ask. Whatsa matzha with you? You know 2Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So, if everything in the Bible has value and the lesson of the FOUB is in the Bible, we have to ask ourselves, "what's it all about?" It's all about sin!
We find this command in Exodus: Exodus 13:6-18 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
In my experience, much of scripture has a three-fold purpose, the literal re-telling, the practical application, and the spiritual meaning. In the above passage, the spiritual meaning is so deep, one could almost drown in it! When scripture says, "No leaven shall be seen with you..." the spiritual application is no sin shall be seen with you.
Consider for a moment what removing the appearance of sin looks like in your life. There are basically two ways to remove the appearance of sin: One is to stop sinning and the other is to do a better job of hiding sin. Jesus condemned the religious leaders who hid their sin behind religious practices, so that is probably not what God had in mind. That leaves us with door number one - STOP SINNING!
God is not so much interested in us appearing sin free, He wants us to live free from sin. It is only when we begin to understand God's heart toward us that we begin to see sin from His perspective. What we may see as fun or normal, God sees as destructive. Our pursuit of holiness - removing the leaven - is less about looking good and more about honoring God. For more on that CLICK here We have all experienced the destructive consequences of sin.
God's desire is His best for you. Poor behavior hinders God's blessing. Can we attain a sin free life - theoretically yes, realistically no. 1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
God desires us to be free from sin, the consequences of sin and the guilt of sin. God takes away the guilt, but we control the consequences by whether we give in to temptation or not.
What leaven do you need to clean out of your heart and life? With God's help, you can overcome anything. Remember, God loves you!
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
Ah! What a great thing to have the Holy Spirit as our advocate, our paraklete!
ReplyDelete