This week's devotion is entitled:
and said to them: "Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place."
I know you're probably thinking, "Why are we studying a passage from the Old Testament?" But there's a perfectly good lesson to be learned from this, you just need some background information first. In the verses before this one, Hezekiah, who had just become the King of Judah, told the Levites to clean out the temple of the Lord that Solomon had built.
Let's see how this applies to us. Are you a Levite? Probably not by human heritage, but in spiritual heritage you are very much a Levite. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, Gentiles were "grafted" into the Jewish inheritance. We are all Jews, but what makes Christians Levites?
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The Levites were the priests of Israel. The Bible says that we are a royal priesthood, and therefore we are Levites. The Bible also says that our bodies are temples of the Lord, because Jesus lives on the inside of us. So, what's the New Covenant translation of this Old Covenant verse?
"Christians, cleanse your bodies and minds to prepare them for the Lord."
This means we should give up music that doesn't glorify God, stop watching TV shows and movies that don't glorify God, stop reading books and magazines that don't glorify God, stop going to websites online that don't glorify God; stop living a lifestyle that doesn't glorify God. We need to clean ourselves up so that God can shine through us, and others can see God in us.
~2 Chronicles 29:5
~1 Peter 2:9