In God Old and New Are Both Good

And you shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. (Leviticus 26:10)

Lev. 26:3-13; Dt. 7:12-13 and 28:1-6; La. 3:23; Ps. 71:12-14 and 23-24; Mt. 13:52; Ga. 5:24

What Is God Saying?

This chapter (Lev. 26) speaks sternly but lovingly of the blessings of obedience and the misery of disobedience. God knew that Leviticus with its statutes and laws was needed. They covered the whole range of right living—personal morality, the equality and dignity of all persons, respect for old age, nurturing for the young, fair treatment of aliens, health and food regulations to maintain well-being, etc.

The Law brought us to Christ (Gal. 5:24), but it served its purpose for the times in which it was given. To us, now, many of these instructions are archaic and some are relevant, but God had His reasons for giving them. This book shines with a steady truth, ‘Do right and prosper; do wrong and suffer.’ The five offerings were a call to get right with the Lord. The eight feasts were a means of keeping right with the Lord. Leviticus was like a picturebook for the Israelites to encourage them in the right and to guard them from the wrong. In Chapter 26 we see blessings for obedience—plentiful rain, a large harvest, peace in the land, and such a surplus of crops that ‘you won't know what to do with your crops when the new harvest is ready. You will still be eating the old store long kept when you will have to clear out the old to make way for the new.’

How Does This Apply To Us?

God has great joy and power for us when still feeding on the old (His Word, His love, His truth, and the changeless Christ), we anticipate the new horizons God keeps bringing into our lives—new opportunities for service, a new understanding of old truths, new friends, new experiences, discoveries, new power, new hope. The path for us is to cherish the old but welcome the new. God has treasures in both. The old and the new are forever His.

Pray With Me

Almighty God, to whom nothing is old or new but all is eternal now, I will despise nothing because it is old, nor fear anything because it is new. Your Word is ‘old store long kept’ but it gives nourishment and sheds light for living. Lusting for the novel and restless for the sensational, we compete for the distinction of bringing forth the newest as if it were the truest. Your Son Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever is ‘old store long kept.’ When a soul longs to find nourishment in the changeless, living Christ, it will never do so in vain. He is the Bread of Heaven, which, if a man eats, he will never die.

Lord, let old failures and broken dreams be swept away so that there may be room in my heart for the newness of Him who stands at the gates of new life. Let old victories and proud achievements, except as they are in Christ, be buried in the sea of forgetfulness. Let every clinging resentment and every stubborn prejudice be torn down and swept away so that my heart may respond to Your love.

Lord, for the ‘old store long kept’ whose nourishment continues to sustain and for Your grace in helping me to make way for the new, I thank You. Thank You for a heart that respects the old and expects the new.

In Jesus' name, forever old, forever new, forever mine. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

Prayer relies on promises made long ago. It also claims mercies that are new every morning (Lam. 3:23). We turn in trust and respect to the old assurances that come from God. We turn in obedience and eagerness to new opportunities and new victories that also have their origins in Him. We believe in the old as we make way for the new. Prayer helps us to stand on an old foundation. It also helps us, in all the onrush of what is new, to determine that which has a rightful claim on us. Our eternal God has treasures old and new. He will surely uncover His treasures when we talk with Him in prayer.