For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
God gave us ears so that we could hear and eyes so that we could see. So, let’s USE them! That means listen to what people say and pay attention to what we see.
The first verse of this psalm sums up why we serve the Lord:
The world and all its people belong to him.
Everything we have belongs to God, including ourselves. They are His to be used for His purposes.
Paul tells us not to argue with other believers over “disputable matters”. Some people believe that we may eat any food, others, whom Paul characterizes as having weak faith, believe that we should only eat vegetables. He tells us that we should not argue over such things. Paul tells us not to judge one another over such things. There are those who argue that we should accept those who practice things which have traditionally been considered sins (usually, sins which are sexual in nature) without condemning them (I think that what Paul writes about the man sleeping with his stepmother in 1 Corinthians suggests otherwise, but that is another point).
However, if this passage were to apply, those who believe those sexual behaviors are not sin would be in the same class as those who believed it was OK to eat anything. Paul tells us that if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat (or in this case, who you have sex with), you are no longer acting in love. He goes on to say, “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.” Paul says that it is better not to do anything which might cause your brother or sister to fall. So, you should not do things which your fellow believers think is sinful where they might find out. If there is any chance they will find out about it, you should not do it at all.
When Hezekiah took the throne he immediately began to reverse the evil which his father, Ahaz, had done. He called on the Levites to first purify themselves and then purify the Temple. When they had purified the Temple, they purified the people. This should serve as a model for us. I believe our nation has fallen into the sort of situation which Judah was in when Ahaz was king (although, I do not believe the U.S. is God’s chosen nation, unlike Judah). If we want to turn that around we need to first purify ourselves. Then we need to purify the Church (and I do not mean the building). Only then will we be able to purify the people of this nation.