Feb. 3 - Leviticus 19-21

I'm jumping in on Julie's day.  I had some thoughts.

Question:  Since we are so used to embracing and living our lives with forgiveness b/c of the grace of Jesus.....how relevant is the Old Testament?  I read over it and I find myself making excuses for myself when I have broken one of the laws discussed.

(19:19) Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material
(18:19)  Do not approach a women to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
(19:26)  Do not eat any meat with blood still in it.
(19:28)  Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.  I am the Lord.
(19:30)  Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary.

Okay...
-I prefer my stretchy jeans
-Ben and I have a time or two "gone at it" as soon as we could after my monthly friend visits...not waiting a whole week.
- I LOVE my steak medium rare.
-I have a tattoo.
-We do home projects on Sundays if there is work to be done.

All sins???  These are just a few that I picked out.  Are they still sins today?  I look forward to answering these questions! -nic

I was thinking some of the same things today.  I know it is all relevant, and it's not right to think all of it is  okay because are sins will be forgiven, but some of these decrees seem just plain silly.  "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material"  Why not?  What was the point? 
I really struggled with a few things in Ch. 21 today.  It was in regards to the rules for priests.  The middle of the chapter talked about priest's and marriage.  There were a few rules about who they could and couldn't marry, and about teir daughter's, etc...   Is there somewhere later in the Bible that says priest should not marry at all and remain celibate?  I just wonder where the Catholic faith adopted that from.
Also, it was hard for me to read the end of the chapter.  None of Aaron's descendants that had any sort of defect was allowed to come near God to offer their food.  Now God said they could still eat the most holy food and God made them holy, but they were not allowed anywhere near the altar.  I didn't like that.  It seems like a bad case of discrimination to me.  I know He still made them holy, but what made them so different than others?  They were all still children of God, right?