WEBVTT

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Day 37, or February the 6th. Cleanliness is next

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to godliness. Our thoughts today are rooted in

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Leviticus chapter 14, verse 8. The person to

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be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off

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their hair, and bathe with water. Then they will

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be ceremonially clean. After this, they may come

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into the camp, but they must stay outside their

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tent. for seven days. First, the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Today's reflection comes

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from a rather intimate passage. It talks about

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bodily examinations and the cleansing of people

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with their clothing and homes. At first sight,

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it may seem strange that God is interested in

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such apparent trivial things. but God is interested

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in every part of us. Jesus said, the very hairs

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on your head are all numbered, Matthew 10 verse

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30. I'm sure you have heard it said that cleanliness

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is next to godliness. This part of Leviticus

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could easily have inspired this saying, which

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is first accredited to Rabbi Phineas Ben -Yer,

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who is thought to have used it in the second

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century. And now, our action step for today.

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I recently heard an elderly gentleman say to

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a pharmacist, I'm sorry to bother you, but I

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didn't want to take up valuable time by asking

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my doctor. We often treat God like that, not

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wanting to waste his time with trivia. We demote

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God to, for emergencies only, break the glass

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only when absolutely essential. There's a reminder

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of this in that lovely old German hymn translated

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in the 19th century by Catherine Winkworth, Now

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thank we all our God. It includes this line,

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And guide us when perplexed. In other words,

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only when I can't figure it out by myself. To

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be fair, it may not be what was meant, but that's

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how I read it every time, and so will you after

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hearing this. Sorry. Leviticus reminds us that

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we need to be cleansed when we come before a

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holy God. God is interested in the most intimate

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and seemingly insignificant things in our lives

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when they mar our purity. Nothing's too small

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for cleansing if it's a barrier between you and

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God.