today's morning service was on Leviticus 15:1-15.
the message was that just like how God commanded the Israelites to stay away from those who are unclean or risk becoming unclean themselves, we must separate ourselves from the secular world or risk falling into sin.
the message ended in a hopeful note, saying that this passage ends with God explaining how the unclean can cleanse themselves, saying that we also are given the opportunity to cleanse ourselves from the sin we fall into--through the blood of Jesus.
these kinds of messages always make me think.
Jesus was known to have spent most of his time with sinners, the world. when Jesus broke bread with tax collectors, who knows, they could have been in what could be that era's equivalent of a bar/pub. He definitely will not have drunk too much wine, but the people around him surely would have.
but then again, Jesus was perfect. nothing would have influenced Him to fall into the environment He was in.
as sin-prone Christians, we need to interact with the world enough to change it but not enough to be the one changed...
as a side, related to Jesus spending time with sinners, when the Pharisees voiced out about Jesus spending time with sinners, Jesus said that He has come to this world for those who are sick (Mark 2:17). every time I remember this passage, it touches something inside me. don't really know what, but something.
