Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 13.

Today’s passage talks about diagnosing a contagious skin disease and then later about destructive  mold.  There is not a lot of relevance to this for us today since our modern knowledge of the organisms involved in both of these allow us to take a different approach to such problems.  However, they do provide a metaphor for the way in which that which makes us unclean (and as Jesus tells us, what truly makes us unclean is that which comes from our hearts) can spread both within ourselves and throughout a community.  If we do not isolate and root out the thoughts, words, and actions which make us unclean, they will spread.  First throughout ourselves and then into those around us.  Of course, it also works the other way.  If we expose ourselves to those who practice unclean things (idolatry, immorality, greed, etc.) we risk being infected with those things ourselves.  While we cannot, and should not, isolate ourselves from the sinful in this world, we must remain conscious of the danger of allowing ourselves to normalize such self-destructive behavior.  I want to emphasize that I am not suggesting that we isolate ourselves from non-believers (or even try to limit our exposure to them).  Rather, I am suggesting that we be aware of the influence our sins may have on others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.