Monday January 22nd, 2024
« Eat nothing made with yeast (leavened dough), no matter where you live. No one is allowed to eat anything made with yeast! »
18 The bread you eat must be made without yeast from the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month until the evening of the twenty-first day of that month.
19 During those seven days, there must be no trace of yeast in your homes. Anyone who eats anything made with yeast during this week will be cut off from the community of Israel. These regulations apply both to the foreigners living among you and to the native-born Israelites.
20 During those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread made without yeast.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.
22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning.
23 For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down.
24 “Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever.
25 When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony.
26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’
27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
28 So the people of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses and Aaron.
The Bible says in Galatians 5:9 AMB
« A little leaven [a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers] leavens the whole batch [it perverts the concept of faith and misleads the church] »
In this context, leaven symbolizes sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
The leaven of sin is not necessarily a big substance like some may imagine; more often, it appears little and negligible but has a deadly impact on a person’s life and where he or she would spend eternity.
What then is the leaven that all children of God must not eat even in this dispensation of grace?
The simple answer is, “The leaven of sin” and this includes everything that can cause spiritual pollution.
This is further explained in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 where we warned to abstain from all appearances of evil.
For us to truly live as God’s people this year, we must not keep the company of sinners (Psalm 1:1). Some of us claim to be born again but delight in the activities of sinners and even encourage them to continue in sin- forgetting that the Bible says in Romans 1:32 ESV
« Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them »
The story of a sparrow that kept the company of devouring raven is a case in point. When he was eventually caught, he tried to convince the farmer who caught him with them that he was not a raven but the father said, “You are judged by the company you keep”.
Many innocent sisters became victims of rape because they had been keeping the company of ladies of easy virtue.
More often than not, they are lured by their so-called friends to attend parties where they fall into the hands of human ravens.
This is the reason the Bible says that we should not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
The Bible further admonishes in 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 NKJV thus
« Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” »
Beloved, as you journey through 2024, beware of the leaven of the 21st century world.
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Application – Watch the company you keep this year, even in Church!
Author – Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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