I like simple instructions. Perhaps that’s one reason why I enjoy planting flowers. Dig a hole, drop in seed, water, fertilize and watch it grow. The concept is simple, and yet a bed of blooming flowers come spring is profound.

Here’s some simple instructions given to those of us who profess to follow Jesus: Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Uncomplicated directions for a successful life—do good and share.

Not difficult to understand, but challenging to practice. I don’t want to do good to people that annoy me. Nor do I want to share my hard-earned resources with them.

But God understands this challenge. Often it’s a sacrifice. I lose something, but I gain so much more by growing closer to the heart of God. Such acts, even through gritted teeth, please the Lord. My life begins to bloom.

Do good and share. Try it today and enjoy the results.

Hebrews 13:16

Photo by Dave Lowe

It’s quite a statement when you stop and think about it—Our God is a consuming fire.

The verses preceding this line speak of things that can be shaken (the temporal aspects of this world), and the very few things that remain unshaken. God removes the unstable, the profane, and the shoddy. He burns away the rot.

What remains after the fire sweeps through?

Only the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; innumerable angels; the assembly of those enrolled in heaven; God himself and Jesus his Son.

God’s fire excoriates. Most of what I consider valuable and worth pursuing curls black at the edges and burns to dust. Only my investments in things on the heart of God remain. As a result, the author encourages us to respond with deference when holy fire sweeps through the detritus of life:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.

Hebrews 12:18-29

Photo by Piermanuele Sberni

A great deal of detailed handiwork created a glorious tabernacle in the desert. The Lord passed instructions to Moses, who in turn directed skillful hands. The people gave so much in goods, materials, gems and precious metals that Moses cut off the giving.

With the tabernacle finally complete, alter anointed with oil and outer walls in place, Moses and the priests completed their ceremonial washing. As they stood before the tent of meeting, God showed up.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

God literally engulfed their new worship center. Even Moses, who experienced God up close many times, could not enter the enchantment. All this in front of the nation of Israel. Could there be any doubt that God led them on their journey?

The presence did not depart. The cloud remained, revealing a fiery core after dark, all through their travels. God stayed in sight day after day, night after night.

Yet we know the rest of the story. Even with this miraculous whirlwind in the center of their camp, people turned their backs on God. Stunning to realize. But you and I are not much different. Our hearts are tuned inward, the pull to self dismayingly strong.

A supernatural visitation failed to penetrate. It seems God needed a different way to break through barriers, a Savior who clouds hearts and minds. For followers of Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit infuses fire into our lives.

It seems counterintuitive, but the miraculous does not always convince. It takes the internal work of Jesus to turn hearts from inward to outward.

Exodus 40:34-38

Photo by Monil Andharia

Learning of black mold in your house is one of the worst pieces of news you can get. I’ve known friends who spent a great deal of time and money mitigating such issues. Black mold can cause allergic reactions, respiratory problems, and immune system dysfunction. When discovered, you want it gone.

Remarkably, laws given by the Lord to Moses also dealt with mold and mildew. Apparently this formed a constant health issue. After a long explanation of how to determine if a garment remained infected or was now safe, the instructions summed up in this way:

This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.

The inspector needed to check the fibers of a garment, the warp and the woof, for evidence of infection. Woof (also called the filling) refers to the threads that crisscross the warp, running at right angles—perpendicular—to them; they interlace among the warp, over and under, over and under.

Today warp and woof has come to mean a basic or essential element or material, the underpinning of a plan or idea. The nitty-gritty. The mortar that holds everything together.

The Lord insisted pulling at the warp and woof in order to discover potential health hazards. Mold seeps into the tiniest crevices, where it multiplies until it causes harm. For the Hebrews, if the garment could not be washed cleaned, it was to be burned far away from their camp.

These warnings flow easily to me. I should pay attention to the details of how I’m choosing to live. Poor habits may seem inconsequential, yet they settle into the fabric and structure of my life. Before I realize it, I’m infected. It takes a great deal of effort to wash myself clean, to break the influence of the dank, moldering ideas rooted in my life. I need the scouring action of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures.

The Lord concerns Himself with the threads of life. Hopefully, a regular inspection of my warp and woof lays hold of the world’s mold and mildew before it sets in too deep.

Leviticus 13

Photo by engin akyurt