A SPIRITUAL COLONOSCOPY
“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…”
Hebrews 12:1b

I can hear the groans of grossness already just in mentioning the word ‘colonoscopy’. In many ways I am groaning with you concerning this odd and uncomfortable subject of the day. Still, I ask that you continue on in reading this devotional today. It was back a couple of days ago while at work that this term came to mind. I won’t go into all the specifics as to how the topic was brought up, and no it isn’t a procedure I am having done anytime soon, but I will say that while talking to my circle of friends about it God began to nudge me in my spirit about how I needed a cleansing to this degree. For those who do not know, a colonoscopy is an examination of the large bowel and the distal part of the small bowel done with a small camera inserted through…well perhaps you get the idea simply by the term bowel. The reason for the procedure, though, is the look for ulcers, polyps, or anything abnormal within the bowels. In removing these polyps and such, they then can be examined for cancer and other disease.
There are additional reasons as to why one would have the procedure done outside of checking only for cancer and because of the depth and lack of comfort found in this topic I leave that for you to research. However, I want to focus on the preparation related to the procedure before moving forward. In order to check the bowels the colon must first be free of all solid matter. In reading online I found that the first day or two before the procedure the patient is to drink only clear-liquids and eat an extremely reduced low fiber food diet. On the day before the colonoscopy, the patient is given either a laxative or a concentration of polyethylene glycol. Once taken, the body begins to flush the bowels, passing all waste out to expose a sparkling clean intestinal track. This is the point I want to focus on for the remainder of our devotional.
As people living in a sinful world, we are susceptible to sin. This sin hinders our health just as it so easily entangles us. Sin becomes the waste that holds us down, causes health issues, and serves to make us bloated Christians. But the waste needs to be removed. While there is no laxative or concentration of polyethylene glycol that will remove the waste of sin in our lives, there is still a way of flushing. May I suggest a daily dose of the Trinity? Look with me at a few key points found in the Bible. In John 15 we see that God is the gardener who prunes the branches of no fruit. As such, our first place should be connected to the right vine where sin is not allowed because true growth is being accomplished. Not only is Jesus the true vine, but in Hebrews 12:2 He is also the one we are to fix our eyes upon. And still, we read in Ephesians 5:18 that we are daily to be being filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to lead and guide us away from sin. In being flushed by these Agents, we find ourselves living a life free of the waste that sin creates in our spirit.
While a physical colonoscopy isn’t a procedure done until later in life, I would suggest we consider having a spiritual colonoscopy done soon, today even. Why put off another moment of cleansing and ridding of the sinful waste that may already be in our bodies? Let us today take the dose of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three together change our spirit and change our body, and work to push out the waste of sin and the disease and death it leaves behind. Today is a great day to be cleansed. Why not come in for a check up?

SPRING CLEANING
“Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by; I am doing something new; it’s springing up – can’t you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

Today marks the official first day of spring, even though here in Tennessee it has felt like spring for a couple weeks already. The trees are already blooming and allergies are already flaring. Children are set for Spring Break if they haven’t already taken it, and the crisp air is being overtaken once more by the mild warmth of the sun. All these changes point to one thing. It must be time for spring cleaning. Over the next couple weeks I will find myself cleaning areas of the home that have gone neglected for months, such as behind and under the fridge. I will find myself giving clothes to Goodwill, reducing the amount of ‘things’ I have collected, and determining overall what I should keep verses trash. But just as this is a great time for spring cleaning of the physical, it should also be a great time for spring cleaning of the spiritual. This is the season when we would do well to make room for what God is preparing to do in us.
Isaiah 43:18 reminds us to stop being stuck in the past. It is so easy for us to find ourselves living in regret and angry about things we cannot now change. I know this firsthand, as I too have many times wished I could go back in time and slap myself for things I suffer from now. But in the context of spring cleaning, this is the point where we find ourselves going through our old things and either packing them up or getting rid of them. The dwelling on the past is the going through the file cabinet and removing old papers that you no longer need to keep track of. That brooding over times gone by is the same as realizing that that shirt you were holding on to was cool in the 80’s, but really is out of style now.
Isaiah continues in verse 19 by stating that God is doing something new, and even now it is springing up. Notice that the words aren’t, “I am about to do something new,” or “I’m thinking about doing something new.” No the words told to the people are, “I am doing something new.” God is doing something new and even now it is springing up. Think about it is the form of seasons. Winter is officially passed now. Today marks the very first day of spring. Yesterday was still considered the season of winter even though it may have felt like spring. But today is a definite, non-mistaken day where on the calendar we know this as the first day of spring. So it is with God telling us that today, right now, this moment, it is spring time in our life. Today He is doing something new. Today He is making a road in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Today is spring!
This is the time when we need to clean out the closet, scrub down the house, and get rid of the clutter and junk that has dirtied our home. When all the ‘stuff’ is gone, then we have a clean home physically. Yet the same principle is true spiritually. When we do the spring cleaning of our spirit, ridding the sin, the regrets, the pains, and the resentments, we allow more space for the Holy Spirit to come in and make something new in us. It is then that God opens doors that no man can shut, and makes ways where ways do not already exist. We all need to spring clean, in our homes and in our spirits. Today is the first day of spring. Today is the day when God is doing something new. I want all the junk blocking what He has for me removed so that I can take in the abundance He is giving me now.

BEZALEL AND OHOLIAB
“Bezalel and Oholiab, along with all the craftsmen whom God has endowed with the wisdom and skill necessary to carry out the work needed for the sanctuary, are to do exactly according to everything God has ordered.”
Exodus 36:1
“Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that God ordered Moses to make. Assisting him was Otoliab, the son of Achismakh, of the tribe of Dan, who was an engraver, a designer and a weaver in colors – in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and in fine linen.”
Exodus 38:22-23

Today I fear as though I may sound like a broken record, but there is a passage I read in the Torah recently that has had me thinking off and on this week. It comes down to obedience. Sometimes I wonder just how off track I get as it seems as though God brings this word to my attention often. And the simplicity of obedience is that when we do what He has commanded we find life. In basic math, 2+2=4. In God’s math, sin equals death of body and/or spirit while obedience equals life and/or blessing. With that said, I encourage you to look at these two passages from Exodus with me.
In looking at Exodus 36:1, we first read of two specific men in the camp of Israel. Of them it is written that, “…Adonai has endowed [them] with the wisdom and skill necessary to carry out the work needed…” In reading the verse in full we see that two men specifically were endowed with the wisdom and skill needed for a specific piece of the sanctuary. Bezalel was endowed in every kind of artisanry while Oholiab was endowed with abilities in artisanry and embroidery. With these two men putting their talents in the hands of God, one would have to agree that their work would be spot on. As a side note to this thought, I want to encourage you that God has also endowed you with talents. We do not all sing, or all bend metal, or all write, or all run the sprint, yet each one of us is endowed by God for a specific task. These two men were endowed as skilled workers in the craftsmanship needed to aid in the sanctuary
In Exodus 38:22-23, these two names come up once more. In reading this account, however, the portion or phrase that sticks out the most to me states, “…[they] made everything that God ordered Moses to make.” While the credit given in this passage is for their talent, I think the greater credit goes to their obedience. Starting in October 2011, I began looking verses by verse in Genesis and am just now finishing Exodus. One thing has remained constant in all my readings, however. God is looking for people who will obey Him. He longed for Adam to obey and not eat the fruit. He was pleased with Noah for obeying and building the ark. He tested Abraham in obedience by asking him to sacrifice his only promised son. He was pleased in Joseph’s obedience in Egypt and promoted him to second in command. He blessed Moses with the exodus for his obedience to keep pressing Pharaoh. And now, He found that Bezalel and Oholiab had obeyed every command concerning the tabernacle. God could not help but be pleased, for His people had obeyed His commands.
This idea challenges me yet again. I question what I have been called to and have failed to do. I question if I have been obedient. Yes I have had good intentions, but have I obeyed? God honestly does not care about my good intentions, but is joyful when His commands are obeyed. Barring this in mind, I give myself a challenge for this next week coming. I challenge myself to obey Him. Despite how crazy or mundane, I want to obey Him. I want it to be said of me as it was of these two, that I too made and did everything God had ordered.

QUICK AND SLOW
“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
James 1:19-20

Do you remember that tale about the tortoise and the hare? In a race to prove who was faster, the two competed against each other. The rabbit started off quickly as expected, while the turtle found a steady pace. Soon, with such a great lead, the hare became arrogant and proud and began to find a nice place in which to nap for a bit. Sometime later, the turtle slowly passed by the hare, never changing his pace. In the final stretch, the rabbit awoke to find that not only had he been passed by the tortoise, but that the tortoise was only inches away from the finish line. Even with his mad dash push to the end, the hare still lost to the tortoise. The key to the victory was the persistence of the tortoise.
Now while today I want to reference this tale, I do not want to speak about it with persistence as the key focus. Instead, what God shared with me this morning were the moments in my life when God commands me to be quick verses being slow. Specifically, God spoke to me this morning concerning the words of James 1:19-20. The passage reads, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” In this passage we are advised of three key details and the speed in which we are to run to them.
Let us start with the quick sprint. First James reminds us that we are to be quick to listen. As a parent I find myself struggling at times with this idea. As a follower of God I find this even more of a challenge. In my parenting I sometimes feel as though I already know what my kids are going to say so I either tune them out or I talk over them. With God I find that in moments when I feel I know what He is going to say I do them same. But the truth of what James is saying rests in the definitions of these two words. Be TACHUS to AKOUO. Tachus is Greek for quick or speedy. This term seems to translate pretty accurately. The term Akouo in Greek means to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, to understand the teaching, to not be deaf, and to consider what is being said. Suddenly ‘listen’ means a little more. Many times in my walk with God I have failed to understand the teaching, have been deaf on purpose, and have not meditated on what was being told to be. Well no wonder I fail if I waltz at my own slow pace in the times when I am supposed to be quick.
On the flip side, I find myself struggling with going quick in the areas I am supposed to be slow in. James writes in the same verse that we are to be BRADUS to LALEO and BRADUS to become ORGE. Bradus translates into slow, but a deeper translation is dull, inactive, hesitant to apprehend. When was the last time I allowed myself to be slow in these areas. And to define our other terms, Laleo is defined as uttering a voice or emitting a sound, or to declare one’s mind. The term Orge is defined as angry, agitation, impulsive and violent emotion, and punishment. Honestly, I am convicted. I find that I can often become quick to speak my mind and become agitated. I find I live a life of opposites.
Yet as we close, I want to offer to you the challenge I feel impressed for me today as well. James continues on in this thought in verse 20 where he notes that the Orge of man does not bring about the righteous life God desires. Basically, my failure to be slow to speak and slow to anger does not make Him happy. My wrong behavior does not bring glory to Him in any means. That said, I want to change the way I behave. I want to obey and train myself to listen to others, especially at the risk of humbling myself for His glory to do it. Equally, I want to come to a point where I force myself if needed, to slow down. Instead of blurting out my words, I want to be slow in how I respond. Instead of jumping into fits of anger and impulse, I want to be slow to not let my agitation rule me. This is not a behavior I can grasp overnight, but it is a behavior I need to step up to the plate and begin working on now with God’s help.

EVERY NEED MET
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19

I have taken up walking again. Last summer my goal was to walk 500 miles within a three month time frame which I did complete in time. For the month of March I decided I would make another goal for walking. So as I set out this morning on a three mile waltz before work, I found myself quickly in prayer. It almost seems many times that with each step God reveals something new to me, as if we are walking next to each other and having a real conversation. This morning was no different and I quickly found myself sharing with Him some of the areas I feel lack in. In my spirit I was quickened to recall the scripture of Philippians 4:19 concerning having needs met, but thought to myself, “that verse has to do with finances and my concerns are not with finances right now.” I was then quickened again, almost corrected by the Spirit after thinking this thought. For the remainder of the walk I was reminded of God’s title, Jehovah Jireh, and was instructed by the Spirit on what exactly it entails.
Before I go on, let me explain my thinking of Philippians 4:19 being money related only, just incase you read it the same way I was. In the closing piece of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, starting in 4:10, Paul states that he rejoices greatly for the Philippians renewed concern for Paul. A few verses later he reminds them that as he was leaving from Macedonia, not one church shared with him in the matter of giving and receiving except for that in Philippi. Even when Paul was in Thessalonica it was the Philippians who sent aid over and over. I, in my shallow mindset, relate aid to money and therefore simply relate that the Philippians sent Paul money on many occasions. But in what dictionary does the word ‘all’ used by Paul mean only money? The word in Greek, PAS, actually means each, everyone, the whole, and each type. No definition of the word singles out finances.
After I was quickened and reminded of the word ‘all’, I was then reminded of the first time the Bible even records the use of Jehovah Jireh. We need to go all the way back to Genesis 22:14 for this. It is here that we read of Abraham ascending Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac as instructed by God. When Isaac questioned where the lamb for the sacrifice was, Abraham responded that God would provide (Gen 22:8). A few verses later, after Abraham had put his son on the altar in obedience to God, and was then stopped by God, Abraham looked up to see in the thicket a ram which was caught. That ram became the sacrifice and the place was called “Adonai Yir’eh”, meaning God will see to it and provide. There is in this passage no reference to finances, yet is the first time God is named as our provider.
The question I ask then in light of the true meaning of this word is what are you in need of? If I may be honest, when I was praying this morning I was pouring out my heart concerning my desire for a wife and step-mother for my children, my desire to move to a new place soon, and my desire to parent my children better. I say this not to prove myself humble, but to show you that my requests had nothing to do with money. Yet to these prayer requests I was responded to with the words, “I am Jehovah Jireh and I will meet all your needs.” It is true, my God will supply for all my needs according to His glorious riches. In fact, He longs to supply for His children, and given them good gifts (Matt 7:11). I encourage you today to put your faith in Him, for everything that is needed can be found in Him. It is God who even now is supplying for all my needs whether I see it or not. He is my Jehovah Jireh.

STRONGHOLDS AND STRONGMEN
“Or again, how can someone break into a strong man’s house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? After that he can ransack his house.”
Matthew 12:29

In the year 1995, one movie alone took Scotland and the rest of the world by storm. That movie was Braveheart. In the retelling of the life and events of William Wallace, writer Randall Wallace sought to honor the praised Scottish hero of times past. It is at the end of the movie that now caught and being tortured, William Wallace yells out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as the cloth of his cherished fair-maiden floats gently to the ground. However, I reading the true events of Wallace’s life, Wallace suffered a different death. It is believed that the defeat of the Scottish army at Falkirk was also the defeat of William Wallace’s glory in the eyes of the nation. For the next quarter of Wallace’s life, he would continue to fight for freedom, but never be given the authority he had once possessed prior to this defeat. The worth of Wallace as a warrior for Scotland may have been lost, but the greater loss was the worth of Wallace in his own eyes. With little to live for, Wallace simply gave up on himself, or so it would seem. Long before he declared his final words he had already returned to slavery.
As I was driving into work last week this same concept struck me as I was meditating on the scripture only to be confirmed later on in the day when listening to a podcast by Perry Stone. The sad revelation is that so many people get freed only to return to slavery. Jesus speaks of this in John 8:30-38. It is here that Jesus tells us the return to sin is the return to slavery. Furthermore, “So if the Son frees you, you will really be free” (Jn 8:36). If we are really free then why do we return? I want to direct our attention to words penned by Paul in Galatians 5:1 where he writes, “What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”
May I suggest that one of the main reasons we find ourselves returning to slavery has to do with our stance. Paul warns us that the way to stay free is by standing firm. This term of standing firm or standing fast in the Greek is STEKO, meaning to stand in persistence and keep one’s footing. This is the same term used by Paul in I Corinthians 16:13 where we are told, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” I am reminded of the product Stucco and the firm grasp it holds against the conditions of nature. This binding agent is applied wet but hardens to a very dense solid. In many ways we too are to be on guard, persistent toward the forces of the enemy like Stucco to the forces of nature, courageous, and strong. The question is, are we? Are we persistent against the enemy and his desire to bring us back into slavery, or is our footing found in our standing in mush?
Once we have experienced the freedom that can only be given by the LORD, we are to not allow ourselves to be wrapped up again in the slavery that once bound us. This in essence was the true downfall of William Wallace. Despite his victories in battle, the one loss at Falkirk pushed him to see himself again as a defeated Scotsman. His footing moved from solid and persistent to standing in mush, opening the doors of slavery. When he did pass away, and if he did indeed cry out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as portrayed in the movie, was his victory chant only because he would no longer be slave of his own demise? I cannot answer this, but I can take note that for myself I want to declare freedom now from the sin that has for so long enslaved me. Furthermore, I want my footing to be solid as opposed to wavering and allowing a return of slavery and bondage. The Messiah’s sacrifice has freed me, once and for all, but unless I stand firm I am subject to return. I do not want this for myself, nor do I want this for you.
But let us go one step further. Since 1977 men have been competing for the title of “World’s Strongest Man”, a competition help in different countries normally within December of each year. Men are put to the test in a variety of strength defining activities such as pulling an airplane or truck, overhead press, car carry, and farmer’s walk. Although the tests differ slightly each year, the title of “World’s Strongest Man” is the goal. In the years since the competition first started, both America and Iceland have carried home eight gold medals, with Poland following carrying home five. Most recently in December 2011, the title was given to American, Brian Shaw, who in the end won the tight competition in the battle of the Atlas Stones. In simply looking up the details of this massive man online, I can tell you he is a Goliath in relation to this David.
We have looked at 5:1 and our stance against the enemy once we have been set free from the slavery we were in. Now I want to continue this thought with a look at the strong man as named by Jesus in Matthew 12:29. To understand this teaching of Jesus, let us begin in Matthew 12:22. It is in this portion of scripture that people brought to Jesus a man controlled by demons who was blind and mute. The Bible records that Jesus healed him and the man was able to both see and speak. While some onlookers were amazed and asked, “Could this be the Son of God?,” others said, “This man only drives out demons because he is the ruler of the demons, Beelzebub.” To these ideas Jesus responded, “If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself, and every house divided against itself will be ruined. Furthermore, if I drive out demons in the name of Beelzebub, whose name do you drive them out in? But if I drive them out by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ‘Or again, how can someone break into a strong man’s house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? After that he can ransack his house.’”
In looking at this passage I believe we see a few key points. First, in this passage Jesus is explaining that in order to overturn the works and activity of the enemy, we must bind him. We must go into battle with the name, the blood, and in the power of Yeshua's (Jesus') Word and neutralize the enemy’s works, dealing directly with the source and binding up the foe so that his hands are rendered useless. It is only in doing this that we will be able to take back what was stolen and halt further negative actions. Second, we must realize the power of the enemy. I say this not as a factor to cause fear, but as a reminder to the weapons of warfare we have been given in Ephesians 6. This enemy inflicting God’s people is strong, and he is titled the “strong man”, but we must not forget that our God is stronger and our God has given us the shoes, the belt, the breastplate, the helmet, the sword, the shield, and the spear with which to battle against him. And third, I believe it is important to point out that a ‘stronghold’ is not only defined as demon possession, but as any strong influence or grip on a person. In our passage the man was titled as a “demon possessed man who was blind and mute.” The blindness and muteness of the man was his stronghold. Other strongholds could be addictions, oppression, obsessions, or hindrances and these too must be bound up.
There is still one more factor I want us to look at in relation to our freedom from strongholds, but before we go on, I set before you a challenge. We have looked ever so briefly at the stance we are to make after freedom, and we have looked at Jesus’ words concerning binding the strong man. So my challenge to you is to consider what strong man is inflicting damage on you. What addition, oppression, obsession, hindrance, ailment, or harassment is keeping you enslaved? That is your stronghold, and that needs to be bound. Do not let it continue to keep you as the slave or victim. In the mighty name of Yeshua, and in whose blood you have been washed, bind the enemy! It is for freedom that Christ has come to set you free.
To wrap up this detail of the strongman and our stance against him, I feel we need to consider the words of Matthew 12:43-44. It is in this section of scripture that Yeshua notes a very valid point in relation to spiritual warfare. “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.” Quickly defined, once a spirit is cast from a person, the spirit begins to find a new place or person to inhabit. If it cannot find one, it decides to return to its previous victim only to find the place swept clean. The spirit then makes a decision to go and retrieve seven spirits more wicked than itself and bring the whole gang to live in this victim. In the end, the condition of the man is worse than when he started. It sounds hopeless, yes? It sounds as though we will never know freedom. But wait, it gets better and there is hope. I pray I do well to explain this to you as I have been learning this myself over the past two months.
It is no secret to any of you who follow my writings that for many years I was bound in the addiction of pornography. This was my stronghold. Many times starting at the age of twelve, I would go up for prayer to be delivered from this strong man’s grip. Yet it seemed that with each prayer the deliverance only lasted three days at most. It wasn’t that the prayers weren’t working, but rather that I was the problem. In some instances I did not really want it to go while in other instances I didn’t have the strength to say no to its temptations. What I realize now is that God did bring deliverance with each prayer, but I was subject to the warning Yeshua gave concerning the return of the spirit and his friends. This in part had to do with my stance, but also in the term “swept clean”.
First allow me to point out that a spirit cannot enter a person’s body without legal right. I know I have stated this before, but I state it once more for any new readers. A spirit gains legal right based on the doors we open. Obvious doors are occult activity, witchcraft, and the like, but doors can also be opened because of thievery, pornography, anger, lies, and the like. Any action that is disobedient to the Word of God becomes an open door that the enemy can come in through. In opening the door even a crack we allow the access of the enemy. If the enemy is not cast out, as it will not voluntarily give up its position, it will stay for the long haul. However, when the enemy is cast out, the once victim now free man has a clean house.
It is important to point out next that this spirit will return as Yeshua said. The spirit remembers its past home and decides to return. But what will it see? If the spirit finds the home empty, then he apparently has the legal right to return back to that person. Now I know what you are thinking because for so long this was my thought also. Isn’t empty good? Yes and no. Empty in the sense of no evil spirits, yes. Empty in the sense of not embracing of the Spirit of God also, no. If the evil spirit sees it was kicked out but that the place has not been re-inhabited with the Spirit of God, then he will work hard to return. This then shows us the importance of filling the empty places of our life with God’s Spirit, knowledge, presence, and grace, allowing ourselves to grow and mature in Him. It is when we fail to do this, and the single enemy spirit returns to see no change, that he calls for his seven buddy spirits which all then take their legal position in the believer, making the end worse than the start.
In many ways it is like a circle. A person is freed, the strong man bound and defeated. However, without us taking our stance against the enemy and filling this empty voided area with growth in God, we become subject to another, more forceful attack. Furthermore, the doors we open, whether on purpose or not, give the enemy legal right to infesting us. As such, we need to walk carefully. I will admit that growing up my parents seemed to have so many rules about what we could and could not do that I felt I was unable to have much fun. There were rules concerning the music we listened to, shows we watched, and peoples’ houses we went over to. But now as a parent myself, and as one who is not wanting to let the enemy in, I find myself being the same way with my children. I do not want to give the enemy grounds to come in. I was bound for way too many years to let anyone go on without this warning. So in closing of this devotional, and of this topic for now, I urge you once more to name the stronghold in your life, bind it in Yeshua’s name, and receive your freedom. Remember this next portion too, though, that we need to fix our stance and find a growth toward maturity in Christ so that when the spirit returns, and it will return, that it does not find an empty place but rather a place inhabited by God’s Spirit.

MILDEW
“If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it is destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down – its stones, timbers and all the plaster – and taken out of the town to an unclean place.”
Leviticus 14:43-45

I know that mildew isn’t a topic you may have thought would ever make it into a devotional, and I assure you the topic was not thought of as I was taking a shower this morning and looking at the walls of my tub. No, this devotional is actually inspired by a lesson God showed me while taking the time to study the book of Zechariah. In fact, although the text I want to share with you comes from Leviticus, I will be going back and forth between the two books, much the same way God brought this to light for me. With that said, allow me to introduce the key point of today’s thoughts. God will not tolerate sin in His land.
In Leviticus 14:33-57, God speaks with Moses and Aaron concerning the topic of mildew. Once the people enter into the Promise Land, and if they spotted mildew in their homes, they were to follow these guidelines. First, the priest was to order the house be emptied before he would enter the house to examine it. If in the examination he found a mildew of greenish or reddish depressions appearing to be deeper than the surface, the priest was to exit and leave the house untouched for seven days. Seven days later on his return, if the inspection of the mildew showed the mass had spread, the infected area was to be removed and the pieces thrown into a place deemed unclean. All the inside walls of the house were then to be scraped off and also dumped into the unclean place. The vacant place caused by this action was then rebuilt, re-patching the spot where mildew once was with new clay and plaster. Now if the mildew reappeared again, the priest was to once more look at the area. Seeing a spread of mildew once more, the priest was then to declare the house unclean. The end result if this was the case was to have the entire house, all the stones, timbers, and plaster, taken out of the town to the unclean place.
Now with this understanding, we jump over to Zechariah 5:1-4. It is in this section that Zechariah has a vision of a flying scroll. This scroll is the curse that is going out over the whole land declaring that every thief be banished, as well as any who swear falsely. The Almighty One then states, “’I will send [the scroll] out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.’” Basically what is being said here is that there is a curse on the one who steals and this sin causes the thief banishment. But forgiveness is available. If the thief owned up to his sin and repented, forgiveness could be found. However, if instead of honesty the thief lied about his actions, the sin committed would reside in his house and eventually be his downfall, destroying everything including the timbers and stones of his being.
Now let us look at the two together because the end result for both is the total destruction of the home, including the timbers and stones as named in both passages. Sin is like mildew. Sin has the chance to be forgiven of or to increase in size based on the effects of the sin-snowball. The same is true of mildew. The priest came to inspect and witness if the size of the blotch on the wall grew or not. If not, then there was no danger. This is the case of forgiveness. In forgiveness God cleanses us and we are able to go forward. But if the priest found the size of the mildew to grow or to reoccur after the cleansing, much like un-confessed sin, then the end result was more than banishment. The end result was total destruction.
As I said before, and as I see in grander scale each time I really study God’s Word as opposed to skimming it, God does not play games when it comes to sin. He simply will not tolerate it. Why then do we continue to assume we are held to a different standard than God’s Word? Why do we continue to assume the rules and words of the Old Testament were overridden with the writings of the New Testament? Why do we believe that just because we have the ability to ask God for forgiveness that we are able to sin still? God does not tolerate it! Sin results in banishment, or death as said in Romans. So then, would it not be the wiser action to learn what pleases God and do it? I do not want to have my spiritual eyes opened only to see that I have caused total destruction of my home because of my sin.