It was hard to decide what to focus on today. Part of that is I"m feeling groggy this morning and I just wanted to stay in bed. Another part is feeling very distracted, like there is so much other stuff to do, I feel a bit out of kilter since we went to a funeral yesterday that was just sad. No real mention of God, just praise for a fellow's good works and his love of being a cowboy. Just makes me sad that he didn't know the "more" of knowing God truly.
I finally settled on the Leviticus 19 passage. Two phrases kept repeating themselves. A while back while I was in Bible College I was taught to pay attention when phrases or words repeated themselves.
I AM the Lord your God.
- You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
- Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
- Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.
- You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God
I am The Lord.
- You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
- You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
- You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
- You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD
God calls us to act in a certain way and to behave in a certain manner because HE IS OUR LORD, HE IS OUR LORD GOD. He is holy and he calls us to be the same. Time after time in this passage God says do this, don't do that because I am the Lord God.
It causes me to ask myself. Do I query what I do in the light of who God is? I'm ashamed to admit that too often I really don't. I just live my life by the good principles I was raised with ... most of those principles are godly ones, but quite frankly, most of the time I don't even think about it. Of course I do need to ask myself if that is so wrong... to live simply in the way I was raised....but I have to query.. Do I really think about it? I am intentional about the way I live or do I just coast along living a certain way because that's how I was raised? God wants us to intentionally follow him because he is the Lord. He is MY Lord God. So I should intentionally live like he is.
Does that make sense?
I need to ask myself these questions
- Do I put stumbling blocks infront of others?
- Do I talk poorly about others?
- Do I truly love my neighbour as myself?
- Do I live like I am holy? Striving to be holy as the Lord God is?
- Have I made any idols for myself? Do I treat something else as if it was as important as God is?
- Do I misuse the Lord's name in anyway?
- How Do I live my life in the light of who The Lord God is?
That's the question he has for us you know.
How do I live my life in the light of who he is? The Lord my God..