Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 16-18.
As God gave His Law to Moses to pass down to the people, He explained how the people were to conduct themselves compared to the other nations.
“You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord” (Leviticus 18:3-5).
There are a couple lessons to be learned from this passage. First, God’s people are obligated to live according to His standard, not the world’s standard. You must follow the Lord, even if those around you do not. Paul writes, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Second, we follow God’s standard because He is the Lord and will either reward us or punish us based upon how we live up to His standard. If we claim to believe in the Lord, we must obey Him (Luke 6:46). Our future reward of heaven or punishment in hell will be based upon how well our deeds match His standard (John 12:48; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Even Christians who begin to follow Him, but later reject Him, will not be exempt from punishment (Hebrews 10:29-31).
Our responsibility is simple: Obey the Lord. Rather than conform to the world, let us conform to God and to His perfect standard.
Tomorrow’s reading: Leviticus 19-21
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
