The boys were not thrilled with the message on the board yesterday, they remarked with something like, "Very subtle message mom." I'm okay with that, because it did get them talking about how they can help out more, and they did actually help more. So I thanked the Lord for small miracles and asked Him to please keep guiding me in my efforts to make them more aware of what's going on around them. As I closed my prayer a thought popped into my head, "Make sure you thank them for helping." So today I will make an extra effort to let them know that I appreciate their help and see what happens.
Leviticus
In my first post on the Book of Leviticus I stated that in this book we learn that God loves to be approached, but we must do so on His terms. The overall message of Leviticus is sanctification or holiness (the primary goal of worshippers of the Lord). So I thought that I would focus on looking for what I need to do to approach God.
The Israelites had been redeemed, but they needed to be sanctified or purified into a people worthy of their God. As Christians we are to reflect Christ's character and He is sanctifying us much like He did the Israelites. The Lord tells us this in Leviticus 20:7-8:
"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you."
If we are to reflect Christ's character it appears that we must work on being holy. The Lord makes this very clear when he states"Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." (Lev 19:2) . The word 'holy' appears around 90 times in Leviticus. I have found that when something is repeated in the scriptures it is usually something really important and I need to pay attention to it.
So I read through the verses looking for how to become more holy. As I read I noticed that the chapters can be broke down into two sections:
Chapters 1-17 Becoming More Holy
These chapters are all about the way to God through ritual worship, offerings. and purification rituals. The people were taught the importance of removing sin so they could become holy, primarily through sacrifice and other purification rituals (cleansing both physically and spiritually).
Then, after receiving God's forgiveness and acceptance, it should be followed by holy living and spiritual growth.
Chapters 18-27 Staying Holy
This is walking with God in our lifestyle choices, mainly through ethical and ritual observances. These chapters include practical guidelines, chronological observances, severe consequences, and verbal promises to show His followers how to maintain holiness and keep in good fellowship with God.
Does my life echo Christ's? Not exactly, I still lack in many areas, but like the Israelites the Lord reminds me that through repentance I am a step closer. I do not need to perform sacrifices at an altar to receive forgiveness, but instead I need to follow the steps of the repentance process. Something I need to do daily!
It isn't all bad though, there are ways I am growing more like Christ. I am building my relationship with the Father through daily prayer, I am studying and applying the scriptures in my life, and I am serving others everyday. It's a good start.
I have come to learn that the Book of Leviticus is a book of hope. I have never seen it that way before. I can see where the description of "the most Christian book in the Old Testament" is fitting as it is filled with messages of Christ and His love for us, and His desire to be near us, but also direction for His followers to become more holy so that He can be near us. Being nearer to Christ, isn't that what we all hope for?
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