This verse sounds familiar to us because Jesus\u2019 disciples did this very thing in Matthew:<\/p>\n
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” (Matt. 12:1\u20132).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to the law of God, the disciples had done nothing wrong. It was not illegal to pick grain and eat it by hand, on any day of the week. The religious leaders (Pharisees and scribes)\u00a0had added this prohibition that it was illegal on the Sabbath, which was itself sin, as they were adding to the Word of God. They were making their traditions equal to God\u2019s word. That is the problem with religion. Religion is what man does for God,\u00a0whereas the gospel is what God has done for man. Religion is man\u2019s attempt at outer reformation, while the gospel is God\u2019s work of inner transformation in the heart of man.<\/p>\n
Religion is found throughout every society on earth because God has given us a hunger for spiritual relationship with Him.\u00a0Pascal called it a God-shaped hole in the heart of every man. We must guard against trying to fill that hole with anything besides God Himself. He desires relationship with us and has gone to great expense to provide a bridge for us to come to Him. Don\u2019t let religion get in the way of your personal relationship with Him today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank You, LORD, for the bridge of Jesus Christ, which You provided so that we might boldly come and have intimate relationship with You this day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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Deuteronomy 23 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0for ever:\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.\u00a05<\/sup>Nevertheless the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God loved thee.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in their third generation. 9<\/sup>\u00a0When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.10<\/sup>\u00a0 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash\u00a0himself\u00a0<\/em>with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp\u00a0again\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a012<\/sup> Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:\u00a013<\/sup>And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0For the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.\u00a0 15<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0He shall dwell with thee,\u00a0even<\/em> among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.\u00a0 17<\/sup>\u00a0There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the\u00a0LORDthy God for any vow: for even both these\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>abomination unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God. 19<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 21<\/sup>\u00a0When thou shalt vow a vow unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform;\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth. 24<\/sup>\u00a0When thou comest into thy neighbour\u2019s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>in thy vessel.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour\u2019s standing corn.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This verse sounds familiar to us because Jesus\u2019 disciples did this very thing in Matthew: At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6005"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16028,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6005\/revisions\/16028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}