Kill and Eat: Setting aside to take in what is provided

Acts 1013-16, 23,28,34
13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

First Understanding
23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Second Understanding
28He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

Third Understanding
34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
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To 'Kill and Eat'
We learn from this act, that our preconceptions are nothing more than a bias, a fear based on our judgements. As we are called to not judge others, we see that Peter was being told to 'kill' his misconceptions and in doing so, take into himself what is actually holy. To 'Eat' what is pure in the eyes of the Lord, is to take in the truth and allow it to provide us with the strength that comes from it's purity. To 'Kill and Eat' is to set aside our preconceptions and feed off righteousness.

This has been seen throughout the scriptures as acts of faith. Acts that were considered righteous by those who were not considered as of the path of righteousness. This continued in the ministry of Christ, who showed that there is salvation for all, not just those who maintain they walk in the path of righteousness.
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Then Peter said, 47“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
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After having been instructed by the Lord and spoken upon by the Holy Spirit, and after giving testimony, Peter that resorts back to his preconceptions. The cleansing ritual of the Jews called the water baptism, was symbolic of the washing away of wickedness by the flood. Making then what was considered unclean, clean. But he did this after those present had already been recognized by the Holy Spirit baptism. Peter considered it necessary to bring ritual into what was already holy.
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Matthew 23:25,26
25“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
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There is for those who walk in their transgressions only one baptism. The Holy Spirit Baptism. This is: " First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." This is the new wine, that is of the mediation of Christ through grace and by faith.
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Ephesians 4:5
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
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What to take from this is, even as believers, we walk away from direction when we are not constantly serving with humility. Our preconception must be set aside, so understanding of what is holy and pure can come through us.

“Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

The Father calls souls to Him, we are the testimony that they will be witness to. When we serve we must deny our preconceptions and allow holiness to come through us. From the sinner on the cross whose eyes were open to the next person who is brought into your presence seeking what calls them, we must serve in a way that denies ourselves and supply what fills us.

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