TEXT: LEVITICUS 18:1-16
Key verse: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 18:2).
Respect for constituted authority means modeling our lives along the lines of their prescriptions. Our conducts are expected to be moderated by the reality of what the laws say, or the guidelines they have stipulated. This is indeed the greatest tribute we can pay to those who have the duty to rule over us, or govern our affairs; those who have the responsibility to provide for the peace and orderly conduct of our lives - protecting us from infractions by others, and promoting our overall rights and interests. It is an obligation we owe those over us.
God desires much more obedience from all His children. Here, He commands Moses to declare to the children of Israel that He was the Lord their God. This being so, their standard for living was not to be according to the practices they witnessed in Egypt, or the abominations they were to encounter in Canaan. God’s word was to be their supreme guide and the barometer by which their lives were to be measured. In particular, therefore, the Lord instructed them against immoral dealings or unlawful marriages with anyone faintly related to them, or lusting after such people, or even the extreme case of incest. God is holy and all His children are to be holy also. To attain this state of holiness, the children of Israel were commanded to observe all of God’s statutes and judgments “which if a man do, he shall live in them; I am the Lord.”
The test of our faithfulness to God is in how we regard Him in our lives. If we consider Him indeed as our Lord, then He must have the final say in all areas of our lives. We must trust that He knows our interests best and that He means well for us. We must seek to avoid any action that will defile us or contravene His holy expectations. In short, if He is the Lord of our lives, we must keep His words even to the minutest details.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Who is your Lord?
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