RPG Adults
DON’T MAKE OTHERS UNCLEAN!
LORD’S DAY, MAY 19
Leviticus 15
James 5:19-20
“…When any man hath
a running issue out of his flesh,
because of his issue he is unclean.”
DON’T MAKE OTHERS UNCLEAN!
As children of God, we have been commanded by God to be one another’s keepers. We are to help to keep the lives of other believers in our lives clean, i.e. in holiness. We must try our utmost not to make them unclean, i.e. fall into sin. When we see a brother in sin, we need to pray for him and admonish him so that he will stop sinning. His holy witness for Christ is compromised. He cannot see it because he is blinded by his sin. He needs us to help him see.
The Israelites were reminded of this truth in Leviticus 15. If he had a running issue out of his flesh, everything he touched became unclean. Anyone who touched the things he had made unclean would become unclean. Touching the unclean person would also make others unclean. The unclean person would be made very conscious of the importance of remaining clean. Once he became unclean, people around him had to be warned to avoid him. Everything like the bed or couch he sat upon had to be highlighted as unclean because he sat on them. He had to love his brethren enough not to deliberately cause them to become unclean because of his uncleanness. This Levitical law reminded every Israelite to be mindful of their holy (i.e. clean) life.
Such Christian consideration is sadly lacking today. This means that believers must keep themselves holy so that when they interact with fellow believers, the latter will not be made unclean because of them. For example, if a father deliberately invites his Christian friends to his Christian daughter’s wedding with a man who is not baptised or not a believer, he has deliberately presented a snare that can cause his friends to sin. The right thing to do is to reject his invitation and rebuke him. But if they attend the wedding to please him for friendship’s sake, he has caused his Christian friends to be unclean, i.e. fall into sin. We are one in Christ. We need to be one another’s keeper.
MEMORISATION: Leviticus 15:7
PRAYER: Make me a considerate Christian to my brothers and sisters in Christ, O Father. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.