TLIC Psalms. October 4. They Became Unclean.

Read Psalm 106:32-39. ³²They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account, ³³for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips. ³⁴They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, ³⁵but they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did. ³⁶They served their idols, which became a snare to them. ³⁷They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; ³⁸they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. ³⁹Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

Israel’s downward spiral continued even after they finally entered the promised land. Their failure to deal with the wicked inhabitants of Canaan led to their own idolatry, child sacrifice, demonic worship, and many unclean acts.

They quickly became like their surroundings.   

Paul will warn the church of Corinth of the same. Their new life in Christ did not exclude them from the sins of both idolatry and sexual immorality. Nor does it exclude us. Thus Paul’s gives us this admonition in Romans – be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Israel conformed to the surrounding culture, the early churches conformed to the surrounding culture, we are fools if we think we are not drawn to conform to our surrounding culture as well.

Lord, give us eyes to see where this is happening in us, and the heart to resist conformity while not resisting Christ’s love for others.

To live is Christ is to be radically different in both our holiness and our love. We should be both strange and attractive to the world. Holy yet hopeful. Clean yet caring. Pure yet peaceful. Sanctified yet sacrificing.

You: Can you identify ways that you have become like your surroundings?

You in Christ: How does our union with Christ allow us to be radically counter cultural?

Christ in you: In what way is Jesus asking you to resist your surrounding culture and seek him first?

Pray: Jesus, I’m not sure that others even know that I’m a Christian. My life doesn’t appear too much different. Help me to resist conformity while also letting your grace in my life shine through. Amen.