Pastor Bob DuPar
February 26, 2008

Journal Entry


Scripture

Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17.

Observation

Today’s horticultural laws struck me as probably having a practical application as well as a spiritual one. And, sure enough, that was the case. Here is what I found:

19:23 Fruit of Newly Planted Trees Forbidden
“When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.”

Like many of God’s laws given to the Israelites, this one had a practical purpose rather than a spiritual one. The basic purpose of a tree’s fruit is to fertilize and reproduce itself. The fertilization takes place as the fruit falls to the ground under the tree and decays; the reproduction occurs as the seeds are consumed by birds—or the fruit-seed combination consumed by ground animals—and spread to other places in their droppings. If the fruit of a newly planted tree is picked and eaten the first few years, as people even today are wont to do, then the tree’s natural fertilization doesn’t occur, and though the tree may grow it is considerably weakened. This is the same as human beings who don’t have proper nourishment during their initial stages of growth and development.
Today, most horticultural advice is to not pick the fruit of a newly planted tree for the first 3–4 years, and allow the fallen fruit to remain on the ground and decay into natural fertilizer, but few people do. It was the same in the days of the Israelites. So to help them grow their newly planted fruit trees properly, God could either give them instantaneous horticultural knowledge, or give them a spiritual law based on his natural laws of fruit tree growth and development. Obviously, doing the first would have caused some problems, so in His wisdom He chose to do the second.

I wonder how different the condition of the “poor” would be today if we actually practiced Leviticus 19:10 (and other laws similar to it), “Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.”

I like Mark 8:17-21 because Jesus refers to the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 as separate events. Often critics see these events as one and the same and therefore contradictory. Jesus clears this confusion. I also like the passage because it is clear that Jesus expected His disciples to learn and grow from their experiences with Him.

Jesus turns the discussion with each one of us from, “Who do people say I am?” to, “Who do you say I am?”

Too often I am like Peter having in mind “the things of men rather than the things of God.”

I want to be like the deer in Psalm 42, with a soul that pants and thirsts for God, the living God.

Application

I wonder how many of God’s laws actually have practical applications that we haven’t even discovered.
I am determined to learn from the past, especially personal experiences in which God has worked mightily and has taught me life lessons.
I need to consider ways to feed and nurture my spiritual appetite for the things of God, especially God Himself.

Prayer

“Lord, thank you for Your sovereignty – that You are always in control, and that I can rest in this assurance. Help me to trust You in all things. Help me to always see things through Your eyes and not merely my own perspective. Thank you for Your great love for me and Your plan for me which is bigger than I can comprehend.”