Title: I Have To Do What? / Topic: Assimilation

Today’s Reading: Exodus 12; Exodus 13; Psalm 21; Acts 1

Scripture: Exodus 12:48-49
48 "An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. 49 The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

Observation: God has just led the Israelites out of Egypt and they have celebrated the original Passover as God killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians but passed over those who put the blood of the lamb on their door posts. Here God gives the rules regarding non-Israelites who live among them. I love the fact that God makes a way for the aliens to participate in the Passover. But notice that they cannot just participate. They must become Israelites -- adopted into the Jewish nation. This process is called assimilation and here God gives the sign of circumcision as the requirement. In other words, "if you are not part of us and want to become part of us, it will cost you!" The cost is serious and personal and comprehensive. It is serious because circumcision is a medical procedure. It is personal because circumcision involves a very personal part of the body. It is comprehensive because all the males of the household must be circumcised.

Application: I see three applications: one that is personal, one that relates to church, and one that relates to America.
• The personal application is that coming to the Lord may be a gift from God, but it comes with a high personal cost. Often, we cheapen the Gospel and even misrepresent it by not communicating the high cost of following Jesus.
• The church application is that there is a necessary assimilation that people must undergo when coming in to the church. We must understand and adequately communicate the changes required to become a part of the household of God. (1 Tim. 3:14-15) Too often, people come into the church and we do not communicate the appropriate expectations of belonging to the church. Maybe we don't want to offend people so we hope they just get it on their own. We, as a church family, need to give some thought and attention to this.
• The application for America is that there must be some cost and changes required for aliens to be a part of our nation. Anytime outsiders can come in and be a part of our nation without adopting our language or any of our culture, they will not have adequate buy-in and the fabric of our union will be weakened.

Prayer: Lord, help us to draw outsiders into your family and help us to instruct and assist them into becoming fully assimilated into our family so that they can fully participate in the blessings of your family.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.