The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 1 July 2021 – TOPIC: OLD THINGS MUST PASS AWAY
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TOPIC: OLD THINGS MUST PASS AWAY
READ: DEUTERONOMY 12:1-12 (NKJV)1. “These [are] the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.2. “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.3. “And you shall destroy their altars, break their [sacred] pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.4. “You shall not worship the LORD your God [with] such [things.]5. “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.6. “There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.7. “And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.8. “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today — every man doing whatever [is] right in his own eyes –9. “for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.10. “But [when] you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety,11. “then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD.12. “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who [is] within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.*THE MESSAGE:*In any institution of learning or organisation, there are rules and regulations guiding the conduct of students or employees. In the same vein, walking with God demands observance of guiding principles to allow for enriching fellowship with Him. Moses, in our text today, charged Israel on some special obligations placed on them when they entered the Promised Land. They were instructed to utterly destroy all relics and remains of idolatry found in the land (verses 1-3). They must bring all their offerings to the altar of God and all their holy things to the place which He would choose (verses 6,7,11,12). They were also forbidden to do what they did in the wilderness (verses 8-11). These instructions were to enhance an abiding fellowship with the God who brought them out of Egypt and to prevent them from falling back into idolatry.This agrees with the teaching of Jesus that we must not put a new wine into an old wine skin. When you give your life to Christ, you must strive to do away with your old sinful life such as drunkenness, adultery, fornication, etc (1 Corinthians 6:9). As Christians we must put away all things which tend to draw us from the worship of God and encourage all which lead us to cleave to and obey Him. II Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. ” Any attempt to bring your old way of life into yournew found faith in Christ is a deception. Do not be caught unawares.*PRAYER:* Lord, give me grace to do away with my old sinful habits and put on the new man after Christ’s likeness, in Jesus Name. Amen