Daily Devotion | Leviticus 13:47–59 | 2026 February 11  

Title: Daily Devotion | Leviticus 13:47–59 | 2026 February 11  
Scripture: Leviticus 13:47–59 (ESV, reference only)  
Date: 2026 February 11  
Speaker: Rev. John Chen  
Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace as He brings us to a new day to study the Daily Devotion. Today our passage is Leviticus 13:47–59. Let us pray. O God, we thank You. We thank You for bringing us before such a passage again, so that we may once again pay attention to holiness—both in ourselves and in the things we use. Lord, thank You. You truly want us to pay attention to a clean life, not to be lured by the world, so that we may truly rely on You alone and follow You. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Alright, we continue in Leviticus chapter 13. We have already said earlier: we are very thankful that God has given us Leviticus. Why? Because God shows us that in our life we must keep holiness. Of course, these literal cleansing regulations are no longer applicable in our time. You cannot say that someone with a skin disease is therefore unclean. These regulations, in their ceremonial form, have been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, because Jesus is the truly clean One. We spoke about that yesterday. But the spirit of these regulations—the way of discerning cleanness and uncleanness in life—and the way of connecting these outward regulations with the moral law, this is our application today.

That is, today we are still guided by the moral law, guided by the Ten Commandments, to discern what is clean and what is unclean, so that we may live a clean life in this present age. These regulations of cleanness—from food, to childbirth, to diseases on the body, skin diseases, and now to mildew on clothing—do you see? Faith is a command that covers every level of human life. After God brought Israel out of Egypt and gave the law at Mount Sinai, it was comprehensive. God’s requirement is not only about one point, not only about one area, but about every point, every area, every level. This is what we must learn when reading Leviticus. Why does it write so many cleansing regulations? That is why.

Although the literal observance of these regulations is no longer required, the meaning they foreshadow and symbolize is still fully applicable today. This is something we must pay special attention to in Leviticus: in our eating, clothing, living, and daily use—in every aspect—we must pay attention. Cleanness in food speaks of eating. Cleanness regarding the body speaks of our skin and our person. Today, mildew on clothing speaks of what we wear. Later there is also the house, what we live in—so in every aspect of “eating, clothing, living, and going,” you must be clean. Whether you sit down or rise up, in every level of life you must obey the law. This kind of concept is expressed through all these regulations in Leviticus. On the surface you read words, but this consciousness and this way of thinking must run through the life of every brother and sister.

That is, brothers and sisters, you truly must think: how do you use your time? How do your thoughts pass through each day? In every scene, have I obeyed the law? Because of our sinful nature, we usually treat “I read the Bible, I pray, I attend meetings” as a holy life. We have especially mentioned this in the last two messages. But we ignore that these are means of grace. What these means of grace signify is that in every aspect of life, at every moment, in every matter we handle, we are to live a holy life.

And in this point it does not fit our human nature. In our sinfulness, we like to say, “It’s enough that I attend a meeting.” After the meeting, how do I live? I live however I want. I still watch short videos. I still entertain myself. My life is like this. But in fact, even entertainment itself must be considered—does it conform to the law? I think this is a challenge for Christians. And this challenge is precisely what Leviticus puts before us: you cannot say that as long as, for example, on Sunday—if the church is better, the whole Lord’s Day—you obey the law, then that is enough. It is in every level, every thought, in every angle of eating, clothing, living, and going, that you must think about the law. This all-encompassing, holistic, non-negotiable, complex law is what we must understand.

When we handle relationships, have we kept the fifth commandment? Have we violated the sixth? Do we have the sin of hatred? You must think about these commands related to people. And even more importantly, how is our relationship with God in the first four commandments? Do we honor God as God? When I do something, someone may say, “This is optional. Life has many matters. The Bible only has the Ten Commandments.” But in life there are many decisions: Should I sell a house? Should I dismiss an employee? Should I change jobs? Should I change positions? What kind of person should I marry? Scripture does not explicitly mention these, right? But in fact Scripture does speak. If you carefully study the Ten Commandments, you will discover that God tells us how to do every matter.

Is this matter edifying? Is it loving to others? Does this matter make me take advantage while others suffer loss? These questions are already answered. If it is something that lets me gain while others lose, then we cannot do it. If speaking this word will edify someone, then we do it. How can you say Scripture does not speak? Scripture does speak. The issue is that we admit—myself also—we find it very difficult in every level to fight our old self, to fight our sinful desires. We are not very willing. We easily slide into worldly living, because we have lived in this world for too long, and we follow the world and conform to it.

But if you want to live a holy life, if you want to obey the law, you must fight the old self in every level: Can I say this sentence? Can I do this thing? Can I cast this look? Can I hold this evil thought? This is indeed a very, very exhausting process. I admit it. But dear brothers and sisters, this is precisely our process of sanctification.

We set up many “no-go zones” for ourselves: “This matter does not need to be considered. This matter should be fine. This matter does not need God’s law to intervene.” I go to work, I go to work. I work, I earn money. But can you earn this money? Does it conflict with the law? Is it in conflict with caring for your family? How does family care relate to your work? These things, in fact, you must receive and ponder. Some things others cannot explain clearly; others do not understand your situation. But you must fight in your heart. You must think, because there is no place where Jesus Christ cannot reign. Yet we set up many forbidden zones. And within the area we think is acceptable, we do quite well, and then we truly think we are good Christians. This is the illusion of many people.

“Do I have any problem? I’m fine. Look, I worship on Sunday. This church is not bad; it asks for whole-day worship. I even tithe.” You can find many reasons to say you are doing well. But in fact, what God wants is that you go further. Do not set up many forbidden zones. We have many blind spots. We have not considered that this matter also must obey the law, that this also must be done under God’s rule. But you must do it in every level, every angle of life. This requires continual challenge.

Indeed. Do I need to obey God’s law when I drive? There is civil law, but besides civil law, do I still need to obey God’s law? When I walk, when I ride an e-bike, when I travel—have I obeyed God’s law? These are things you must embody in every level, every angle. And I firmly believe that only in such a process will God’s glory be continually displayed.

Of course, some people hear this and become angry: “Pastor Chen, isn’t this too tiring? Isn’t this too ‘involuted’? I am already ‘involuted’ enough, and now you want me to be ‘involuted’ again?” Dear brothers and sisters, I want to say two things. First, this is not “involution.” This is what you ought to do. Every second of our life, every behavior in our eating, clothing, living, and daily use must glorify God. This is our mission from God. You cannot say it is “too much.” People pursue excellence in everything, do they not? Then why can we not pursue excellence in faith?

Of course, we know we cannot do it perfectly, but you must pursue it. That is my first point. So there is no “involution” problem. God fills all things. God does not say this is “involution.” Therefore we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—just do your utmost; do not be afraid.

Second, I want to tell you: as creatures, only in such a life can we enjoy true peace. You must remember this, brothers and sisters. I am not harming you. Pastor Chen is not harming you. Scripture is not harming you. Leviticus is not harming you. I am telling you that true peace is found here. We have said this before: first the sin offering, then the burnt offering, and then the peace offering. The burnt offering is that every level is burned up—everything is offered. After it is burned up, then peace comes.

Why do we lack peace in many areas of life? It is because we are too far from the standard of a holy life. We only do well at one point, one level, and we say, “Oh, I’m doing pretty well. Compared with others, I’m already good.” I go to meetings. I give offerings. But God wants you to expand your territory continually. Jesus Christ wants to expand His map continually within your heart.

There are still many strongholds in our hearts that we do not even know. They are our blind spots. We do not deal with them, and we do not want to deal with them. So we live in this state: our whole life still seems to have problems. We have not enjoyed deeper peace and rest. Why? Because our range is not wide enough. We have set up many forbidden zones for ourselves. Some places Jesus cannot touch. Some places the “prince of this world” rules. In those places, the world thinks this way, so I do the same. Therefore we rarely have deeper peace and rest. We still have the toil and trouble of this world.

And what is most frightening is that we still hope faith will help us solve the toil and trouble of our life. We need to repent. Deeper peace and deeper blessing in Jesus Christ come from continually expanding our territory, continually being gained by Christ in every area. Then we can have deeper peace. So brothers and sisters, I say two things: first, do not use “too tiring” as an excuse. Love with all your heart, soul, and strength means you must keep going. If you insist on using that word, then “go on.” The burnt offering burns every part, so you must pursue, you must pursue with all diligence.

Second, in this ultimate pursuit, our inner peace and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will become deeper and deeper. This is what we must notice. Many brothers and sisters, the first problem is that they do not realize they have a problem. “I have no problem. I’m fine.” Yet there is no deeper rest. The second problem is that they set many boundaries: “Jesus cannot touch this. Jesus cannot enter this.” But in fact, there is no place where the law cannot intervene. There is no thought, no word, that the law cannot address. Therefore we must remind ourselves again and again to treat faith seriously. This is what it means to “believe seriously.”

I spoke with a sister. I told her, “You must believe in Jesus seriously.” She asked me, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus seriously? Am I not doing well enough? I attend meetings. Every week I go to two weekday meetings. On Sunday morning I go. As for giving, I cannot do it because my family is in hardship.” She said, “I believe to this extent. What more does it mean to believe seriously?” Believing seriously means: in every level of your life. Do not think that God does not care about business. Do not think that God does not care when you are at work. Do not think that God does not care in your relationships. On the contrary, in the details we least notice, God is there to reign and to rule as King.

Alright, this is the overall meaning of Leviticus as we apply it. Now let us look at the regulation about mildew on garments. This is not hard to understand if you have some life experience, if you are an adult, you probably know what it is saying. Verse 48 says, whether in warp or in woof—some translations make it clearer: whether it is woven or knitted, whether it is spun or woven—this is the idea. Woven may be rougher; spun may be finer. Whether it is linen, wool, or leather—if it turns greenish, is it not mildew? How should a mildewed garment be handled? This is about what we wear, right? Eating is food. Wearing is clothing. Later there is the house we live in. And the skin is the “skin” we carry on our body. You see? Every level. Leviticus covers every level.

So if it turns greenish, what do you do? First, you examine whether it is real, whether it will spread. You shut it up for seven days, then shut it up for another seven days. If it keeps spreading, then the spot becomes larger. Then what? The mildewed garment is unclean, whatever it is, and it must be burned, because this mildew cannot be healed. Strictly speaking, in the Middle East, because it is dry and hot, mildew is not very common. It is not like the south, where in rainy seasons it is easy to have mildew. But the regulation says: if the mildew keeps spreading, burn it.

If it does not spread, then wash it. If it has not changed color, you wash it. But if it has changed color and still does not go away, washing is useless—then you still burn it. If after washing there is some improvement, what do you do? You cut off that part, you tear off that part, and then see whether other places are infected. If other places are infected, you still burn it. But if after washing it becomes better, the mildew is washed away, and it is dried and becomes fine again, then it is clean.

So here, first, we see: earlier it was eating, now it is wearing. Every level of life must be clean. And why can there not be mildew? Because mildew spreads. If you have life experience, you know: if one garment is mildewed and another is not, and you put them together, the one that is not mildewed will also be infected. So here we see that Leviticus teaches us to separate from sin—what we mentioned yesterday—do not be stained by uncleanness. In every level of life, live a clean life. Use the word of God to renew every level of life. Fight against sinful thoughts and desires. Separate from them. Do not be stained, because the stain of sin will grow more and more.

This spreading of sin first shows itself among brothers and sisters. If in a church someone sins and the church does not deal with that sin, it will move onto another brother or sister and infect the whole community. Do not think you have a natural immunity to sin. On the contrary, we sinners—even though we have received grace—have this characteristic: we lack a natural immunity to sin. We very easily follow sin.

And another point is that within our hearts it is the same. If one thought in our heart is worldly, then in fact many of our thoughts will be worldly. So here I want to mention something: brothers and sisters, the transformation of our worldview, our view of life, and our values must be completed in Christ. Each of us is a creature of ideas. If you live under a certain worldview, then your every action will be governed by that worldview.

And when I say worldview, I include view of life and values—it is one whole. If you do not smash that whole, if you do not let God’s word overturn it and then build a biblical worldview, then you are in danger. Do not ignore this key of wholeness. In fact, we are fighting with “combination punches.” The world does the same. As I said earlier—just now I spoke for more than ten minutes about this. When we live under the world’s worldview, we follow the world’s worldview. It is a full set of combination punches that governs every level of life and changes every level of life.

So what must we overturn? We must overturn the entire worldview—its view of the world and its basic understanding. We must overturn our judgments of value: what is valuable or not valuable? What is beautiful? What is ugly? What is light? What is dark? What is evil? What is good? What is true? What is false? This whole value system must be overturned. It must become a system within us; then we can strike it down.

If we do not work at the level of a system, but only patch a little here and there, then the world’s worldview still remains as a whole inside us, ruling us and controlling us. In fact, we are still living in sin, because sin spreads. Therefore we must burn what is mildewed. We must burn the garment with mildew. That is, the darkest thing inside us must be burned. The old self inside us, the greatest stronghold—our craving for the world—must be overturned as a whole. It cannot be overturned only a little at a time, because this is a war.

There are many strongholds in our hearts. No one is exempt from this war. Therefore we must use God’s word to pull down the dark flag, to tear down the stronghold. Although we are no longer slaves of sin—because by faith in Jesus, sin cannot reign over us—we still must fight this battle ourselves. Just like Israel entering Canaan, the battles still had to be fought. You cannot say, “God brought me into Canaan, so I will just lie down and win.” No. You must fight battle by battle. You must gain victory in your thinking. Finally you must tear down all the strongholds that Satan has established in your heart.

The reason our holy life is not complete is because that “old nest” is still there—the last flag of Satan is still standing within us. We do not know to destroy it, and we do not know to wage war against it. Therefore our life is difficult, and we have not obtained deeper rest. Although we say we believe in Jesus, the glory of God, the hope of eternal life, true inner rest—we have obtained very little of it.

May God help us to truly break down the strongholds in our hearts, truly receive Jesus Christ into our hearts, and let Him reign and rule as King in every area. That is all for today. Thank you, everyone.