Scripture: Leviticus 19.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Leviticus 19:1-2 (NLT)

1 The Lord also said to Moses,

2 “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

The very first words I read in this chapter this morning caught my immediate attention. Let me set the stage and compare this to how applicable I see this to our lives today. God had just rescued the Israelites from the abuse of the Egyptians. He brought over 1,000,000 people through days, weeks, months and years of challenges through a wilderness travel experience. He kept them safe from theirs enemies, healed their sick, provided food and water in miraculous ways, and while not just proving Himself holy before these people, He provided many ways of showing them how they should live. Does this not sound like the way that our God still loves, protects and directs us today? In the verses observed here though, we can see how God seemed to have said to Moses: look, I want you to share with my people that they are set apart as my chosen people, they have seen my hand at work among them and they have seen that I am a holy God. I want them to live their lives imitating me, so they must be holy also. Wow, in applying this to our lives today, I believe that we can see that God is saying that we should leave the dirt and filth of our old lives behind us, and as taught in our decision to accept Jesus, we are to make a 180 and turn the other way, for we no longer follow the ways of Satan, the world and sin, but now serve a wonderful Savior that has shown us the way to finally be holy, loving, kind and destined for heaven. The rest of this chapter goes on to explain various principles that Moses was to bring to the attention of the Israelites, and these are still applicable to us today, because we have fallen into the same bad habits. Here are a few of the highlights that I feel are still applicable to us today:

• Respect for our parents;
  
• Observing a day of rest and worship – Son worship, not ‘sun’ worship!!
  
• Helping the poor and needy;
  
• Honesty in our dealings with others;
  
• Careful in our speech – may others know whose we are through our speech and mannerisms;
  
• Respect and help those who are handicapped – blind, deaf, etc;
  
• Be a Christian boss and/or employer;
  
• Don’t gossip – lift up, don’t tear down someone else;
  
• Love your neighbor as yourself – physical neighbor, relative, anyone we spend time around;
  

Instead of highlighting the whole chapter, I hope that I have given you enough to encourage you to get into the Word and follow its teachings. As a practicing professional you would follow the guidelines and rules of the profession so that there will not be grounds for a suit. In Christianity, we follow the ways of God and His written Word (the Bible) so that we may honor God and look forward to His future rewards in heaven!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, thank You for being my God. Thank You for showing me how to live my life pleasing to You. Help me to brush aside the ways of this world and stay focused on serving You, and practicing my everyday living in accordance with Your directions that are spelled out in Your guide/rule book, the Bible. Please may I be holy, even as You are holy!