Old Testament – Leviticus 19
Leviticus is a Latin word meaning from Levi. All men who served as priests of God
were descendants of Levi. Leviticus is the book that contains all the laws that
priests and the Israelites had to keep during worship and in day-to-day life. The
first few verses speak to the Israelites and us as well. We are reminded that God
is holy and we are to be holy. Holy means “set apart.” How can we be holy? We
are holy when we do the things God wants us to do. As Leviticus says we are not
to have other gods before God and we are told to treat people fairly. We are to
be kind to other people.
Old Testament – Psalm 1
The original Hebrew Bible combined Psalms 1 and 2 and made them one psalm.
Our modern Bible separates the two Psalms. Psalm 1 uses the word “blessed”
many times. Blessed is another way to say holy or set apart. Psalm 1 says we are
not to be wicked and we are to be happy doing God’s will. Psalm 1 says those
who do what is right in God’s sight will be happy. Listen to Psalm 1 sung below
and memorize the refrain.
New Testament – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
When Paul and his friends came to Thessaloniki, they taught the Thessalonians in
a gentle and kind way. Paul and his friends were not puffed up with pride nor did
they expect to get anything as a result of preaching the gospel. This is how we
should behave also. We should tell others about Christ in a polite and kind way.
We should not be puffed up with pride.
New Testament – Matthew 22:34-46
Once again Jesus is being questioned by the religious leaders. The problem was
not that they asked questions. The problem was that their motivation was wrong.
They asked Jesus not to learn but they asked him questions to show He was
wrong. One of them asks Jesus what is the most important commandment of all.
Jesus answers the most important commandment of all is to “Love God with all
your heart, all your mind and all your soul.” Then Jesus says the second most
important commandment is to “love others as you love yourself.” Jesus then says
all of the Bible is based on these two commands.
Then Jesus asks the religious leaders a question. He asks “Whose son is the
Christ?” The religious leaders answer “He is the son of David.” Then Jesus
reminds them that David called the Messiah his Lord and asks if David calls the
Messiah Lord how can he be his son. The religious leaders didn’t understand that
the Messiah would be God as well as human so they couldn’t answer him. After
this, the religious leaders no longer dared to ask him any more questions.
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