February 24

Leviticus 15:1-16:28, Mark 7:1-23, Psalm 40:11-17, Proverbs 10:13-14

Pray: Acknowledge before God that His ways are higher than our ways. He is great and His law is perfect and not to be discarded by our own reasoning or experience or traditions. Pray a prayer of submission to God’s ways.

Read: Make a point to compare and contrast Moses and Aaron’s reverence before God, David’s honesty and joy before God, and the Pharisees’ haughty attitudes toward God’s law and instruction. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever so there is much to learn by seeing how those in His Word approach Him and His instruction.

Edify: There is much to learn from Jesus’ rebuke against the Pharisees. It’s the height of spiritual arrogance to elevate our own man-made traditions above God’s Word. When someone comes arrogantly before God in the way they speak and live, the prophecy from Isaiah that Jesus quotes in Mark 7:6-7 always follows. Our hearts will be far from Him because there is no room for pride when we’re truly in the presence of God. Worship will become a farce or a show. It’s so powerful to contrast this with the reverence that Moses and Aaron have towards God. God has shown His power when Aaron’s two sons didn’t follow God’s instruction for worship and were immediately struck dead. God is serious about His instruction and law and the wages of breaking them is death. David brings in such warmth by acknowledging his struggles and sins, but then pleading with God to rescue him. In the end, David acknowledges that he is “poor and needy” in humility, and it is with that posture that he can find joy in any circumstance.

Practice: Choose joy today. As David shows us we don’t drift into joy. As the Pharisees show us, joy isn’t found in our rituals. We choose joy by proclaiming, “The Lord is great!” as we celebrate in the joy of our salvation.