The requirements for admission are:
to walk blamelessly and to do what is right and speak the truth
do not slander, do no evil to friends, and do not reproach your neighbors
stand by your oath--even to your hurt
do not lend money at interest, don't take a bribe.
Those seeking acceptance in the congregation were supposed to modify their behavior outside the building. Further integration--they had been told what was right and, now, they were supposed to live out what they had been told.
Their relationship with God is affected by, even dependent on, their relationship with their community. Moreover, doing the right thing changes the doer: "Those who do these thing shall never be moved."
1 comment:
As a current high school senior, I see countless peers worrying about their "admission decisions" to their dream colleges. What I don't see a lot of is initiative about entrance into heaven. I think most of them think that heaven is something for old people to worry about.
What I see even less of though, is people who are active in their faith enough at a young age to be to the point of being called by God to a ministerial vocation.
I think we can agree that God's call isn't anywhere near as straightforward as admission to heaven--or college for that matter!
Perhaps a more allegorical/exploratory approach is what we need to implement in order to get young people thinking about their call.
*insert plug for my book, which attempts to do just that. haha*
It's called The Journey (by Joel Peterson, obviously) and it's on Amazon.com if you are interested in checking it out.
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