1st night of study

Last night was my first night in my BSF discussion group -- what a blessing just that one night was! Before I started, on Sunday, my group leader J. called me and explained the structure of the studies, when I would get lessons, etc. Well one of the things she said was that the leader of this particular group prays over every card that someone fills out when they decide they want to join the studies. It is only AFTER she prays for each person and she feels led to place them in a specific group does she then place them.

J. said, basically, "You've been placed in our group by God. I truly feel our group was divinely assembled."

We had a fellowship time (which happens once a month) before the night's study began, and it was such a blessing to hear these 12 or so other women in the room tell how they had originally found out about the study and how it has impacted their lives. Most of these women have been in it 3-4 years -- one woman has been in 11 years! How amazing to be in a roomful of women who made a commitment to come together and study the Word, without denomination or "religious rhetoric" involved, but to simply read the Bible and apply what it says to their lives.

Some of my groupmates talked of how they were asked several times of a period of a few years to join, while others actively sought it out after hearing about it only a few times. Some said they had come to the studies at a time in their lives when everything seemed to be spinning out of control. Others have a rich history of Christianity in their lives and families.

All of the women who spoke, without fail, told of how amazing the studies are and how studying the Word has brought them closer to the Lord and guided them in their lives.

It's what I have been hungering for for so long.

"In God's time," is a phrase K. used last night to describe my coming to the studies. And it is such an apt phrase to describe it.

Yes, as I said, I have yearned for a study like this for a long time. The leader, D., last night said something in the lecture, though, that said to me, "You're in the right place, Lauren. I want you here. Listen to Me...be still and do as I say, and all will be well with your soul."

"Do you feel like you are broken? Are you in pain? Then Leviticus was written for you," D. opened her lecture. She explained Leviticus is about getting close to God and staying there, and how to maintain a relationship with God. "Leviticus is an open invitation to holiness." What a concept!

Ok, I have been a Christian -- saved -- for more years than not. I was saved when I was 9, and I had such a desire then to learn the Bible. That desire has ebbed and flowed over the years, and although I do not know anywheer near the amount of the Bible I "should," I am thankful for a strong Christian childhood that included a very good teacher of the Bible.

You would have thought after all those years, though, that I would have seen it so clearly. God wants ME -- little old, sinful me -- to be holy. What?? Isn't holiness reserved for God and "holy people" like priests and stuff? I mean, I have always known God wanted me to be "good" -- isn't that what all of those letters in red in the New Testament mean?

But here we have it, a guidebook to living a holy life, written so many years ago, before Christ came to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

Now, I have just today begun delving into Leviticus, and already I know that there are parts of the book that are not applicable to my life today in 2009. But aren't they? D. explained it like this: no, we no longer are asked to make the sacrifices described in Leviticus as the Levites were instructed to perform them -- mainly because when Christ died for our sins and the tabernacle was destroyed, that did away with the need for those sacrifices.

HOWEVER, each of the sacrifices described in this ancient but applicable book symbolizes a type of sacrifice we, today, are to make in order to have that close, holy relationship with God. The burnt sacrifices, the tool by which the Levites transferred their sin into a flawless animal which was then slaughtered and destroyed by fire, symbolizes that today we are to make a total sacrifice of ourselves to the glory of God. That we are to give Him all we have in every way.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)

It also speaks to the concept of confession of sin. Just as the Levites laid their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal and confessed their sins to transfer them to the animal, so must we as modern Christians confess our sins.

"I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah." (Psalm 32:5)

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)

The next type of offering, the grain offering, today reminds us to take the time to be thankful to the Lord for all he has blessed us with.

"And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it. And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD. If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings." (Leviticus 7:9-13)

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

The fellowship offering symbolizes the importance of Christians fellowshiping and spending time with other Christians, sharing the Word and their company together -- and that sweet fellowship we an share with the Lord.

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. " (Acts 2:41-42)

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (I Corinthians 1:9)

"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (I John 1:3)

The sin and guilt offerings are both pretty explanatory -- they were intended to cover both intentional and unintentional sin on the parts of the Levites.

{{To be completed tomorrow}}