Apr 2 - Come Follow Me

So in the old testament today the Lord says "Suppose a man marries a woman but after sleeping with her, he turns against her and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, 'When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.' Then the woman's father and mother must bring proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. Her father must say to them, 'I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, "I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin." But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. The elders must then take the man and punish him. They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver, which he must pay to the woman's father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man's wife, and he may never divorce her.
"But suppose the man's accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. The woman must be taken to the door of her father's home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parent's home."
"If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil."

Now I picked these out directly because I think it shows how incredibly sacred God feels virginity and marriage is. In today's society virginity seems to me to be something that is seen as a negative. If you haven't done the hibity dibity in high school then there is something wrong with you. If you don't score in college then you must be a Eunuch or a prude(in a negative form). It seems that on television, movies and even commercials showing sex out of marriage is as normal as having coffee or milk in the morning. Now I'm not pointing a finger or saying "you'll burn in hell" for such and act. I was there....I felt the need to prove my coolness in that arena before I met Jesus. My wife didn't. Thankfully when I "found" (as it's put) Jesus I was forgiven for all of my sins and was washed clean and made new. I can tell you without a doubt, 100% that a night with my wife, thanks to the blessing of God for waiting until we were married, far surpasses any attempts to try to fill my lustful drive when I was younger.

The old testament ends with "A man must not marry his father's former wife, for this would violate his father." uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh the only comment I have for that is yuk. Sounds like a talk show topic.

In Luke today Jesus sets out for Jerusalem and meets people along the road who he talks to them in parables about following him. The Lord chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. His instructions to them "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his Fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don't take any money with you, nor a traveler's bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don't stop to greet anyone on the road." He goes on to tell them not to move around from home to home but to stay in one place in each town. When they enter a town if it welcomes them eat whatever is set before them. "Heal the sick, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God is near you now.' but if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into it's streets and say, 'We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this-The Kingdom of God is near!' I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day!"

I like the verbiage "The harvest is great, but the workers are few." It is so true. You can see it on Easter and Christmas that the Jesus believing churches are packed! Our Christian beliefs that Jesus was the messiah and the only way to heaven is through him is lived by some, preached by even less, but appear to be believed by many. The "workers" walk and talk in the light of Jesus....not in a freaky or crazy way. The "harvest" are all those that don't know Jesus, some go to church every Sunday, some just on Easter and Christmas....others don't know at all. That's a lot of harvest....well That's the way I see it:)