Feb 19 (Daily reading: Leviticus 19-21) Leviticus 19 gives a deeper understanding of some of God’s commandments, and also presents the motivation for obeying them: “I am the LORD your God” (19:3). Sixteen times in this chapter, we see the words, “I am the LORD.” We live as we do because He is the Lord our God, and we are His people!
He is the Lord in our family relationships (19:3). Because He is Lord, we reject idolatry (19:4). We love our neighbors: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (19:18); and we love strangers: “The stranger who resides with you…you shall love him as yourself” (19:34). We do these things because He is our Lord and Master, and He has told us: “All people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). We need no other motivation than knowing that He is Lord!
God took this even further: “You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (20:7-8). God explained what this means: “You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own” (20:26, NIV). To be holy, to be sanctified, is to be set apart to be His unique people, a people for His own!
“You once were not a people, but now you are the people of God” (1 Pet. 2:10).
– Al Gary
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