CHAPTER 14:
I read a book on habits last year. It was all about how to break bad habits and develop the habits you want that will make your life better. Habits are built on neurological processes. Your brain uses chemicals to prompt you to do certain things in certain situations. For instance, when it is late in the afternoon and you’re feeling that slump, your body is cued to eat some chocolate to help the slump. With the help of chemicals, this cue makes you crave the chocolate. The craving triggers a response in you: get some chocolate. When you eat the chocolate, you are rewarded with chemicals that make you feel satisfied. So tomorrow, when you feel that slump again, guess what will happen: cue, craving, response, reward. You will strengthen your habit loop.
In order to build habits, you have to establish patterns of behavior that are non-negotiable. If you to start exercising, then you can’t let your feelings dictate whether or not you will exercise today. No. It is non-negotiable. You exercise even if you don’t want to exercise. If you keep this up, then eventually, your body will develop a new habit loop. Getting home from work will cue you to put on your walking shoes. Putting on your walking shoes will make you desire the fresh air and happy feeling you get from walking, so you will head outdoors. Finishing your walk will be satisfying because you know you followed through with your goal. If ever you cave to not walking, then your habit loop may take longer to grow. That’s my problem. I cave. I give myself excuses. I don’t make things non-negotiable. Moses sets up some non-negotiables about tithes and offerings to the LORD in Deuteronomy 14.
Read Deuteronomy Chapter 14:1-2.
Cutting yourself and shaving your forehead for the dead were pagan practices that God did not want the Israelites to make part of their worship. Even though they seemed innocent enough, they were not something God told them to do, therefore, they were to refrain from those practices.
Read Deuteronomy 14:3-21.
What were the two qualifications for a clean animal?
Give some examples of clean and unclean animals.
Verse 21 gives two directives. List them.
Boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk was part of a pagan fertility ritual. God forbade this sort of worship.
Read Deuteronomy 14:22-29.
What were the Israelites to tithe?
Where were the supposed to go with this tithe?
In whose presence were they to eat this tithe?
What was the “so that,” the reason for this tithe?
If the distance was too great, what were their instructions?
They were to remember the Levite in their own town? Why?
What do you remember about the inheritance of the Levite?
Who else are they called to remember?
What is the blessing given for observance of these things?
Love. Remember. Fear. Observe. Teach. Be blessed. We see this pattern God has established in these verses. He wanted them to be set apart from the other nations. He wanted them follow Him alone. This meant they were going to be different.
Being different is sometimes difficult. It is within our nature to want to be like those around us. Most people feel uncomfortable standing out. We tend to assimilate to whatever culture or sub-culture in which we are immersed. It would take intentionality for the Israelites to follow the LORD. It will take intentionality for us to follow Jesus as well. The cultural current will drown your identity in Christ. You must purposefully make decisions, develop routines, and live your life with focus.
I have a friend who is a model of intentional living for the Lord. For her, some things are non-negotiable: going to church each week, tithing, Bible study and prayer each morning, community group, giving back to her local community through outreach projects. She would have to be really, really sick or have some extreme circumstance to miss one of these activities. They are non-negotiable.
I need to be more like my friend, because sometimes I let little things get in the way. I’ve got lots of chores I didn’t finish, so I’ll skip church. I’m a little tired, so I’ll sleep in instead of getting up to do my Bible study and prayer. My list of excuses could go on. Truth be told, I’m setting myself up as my own idol when I do this. It’s what I want. I satisfy my own heart.
We don’t have a list of clean and unclean animals to eat as New Testament believers, or a list of specific tithes and specific places to give them. Read what Paul has to say in Romans.
Read Romans 14:17-19.
What pleases the Lord?
Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are all found in Jesus.
Read Philippians 3:9.</b>
Where does our righteousness come from?
Why is it given to us?
Why do we have peace with God?
Read Romans 5:1-5.
How should this peace affect our lives?
This peace with God puts us in a place of assurance. We no longer strive to win His approval. We have it through Jesus. This frees us up to follow Him through hard times, persevering in our hope, building our character, and bringing glory to Him. Our peace is one that transcends the troubles of this world. Why? Because we know what is to come. Our inheritance awaits!
Our salvation brings great joy to the LORD. I love the words of Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” What a beautiful picture of our Lord rejoicing over our salvation, singing over us in joy. This is the reason Hebrews describes Jesus’s trip to the cross in the way it does.
What was set before Jesus as he endured the cross?
Joy! It was the joy of our salvation that made Jesus go to the cross. He went to the cross knowing how terrible it would be to face the wrath of Almighty God, but He did it knowing the joy in the completed work was worth it. Can you imagine? Jesus went to the cross out of joy for our salvation! Jesus is the Mighty Warrior who saves us and rejoices over us with singing.
We do not have a list of tithes or offerings to give, but with this in mind, shouldn’t we follow the Lord out of thankfulness? Shouldn’t we have some non-negotiables in our lives that speak of our love for Him? We should never go to church or read or Bible or tithe out of obligation. No. We do it out of thankfulness and love. It is our offering to Him, our Mighty Warrior who saves. Love. Remember. Fear. Observe. Teach. Be blessed – because of Jesus!
Lesson to Remember: Our salvation comes from our Lord, Jesus Christ.
A Way to Walk: Be thankful for what Jesus did for you on the cross. Take some times to set up some non-negotiables that honor the Lord and come from a heart full of joy.
