#DailyDevotion Remembering Who Jesus Is Dictates What You Do
Easter Week 4 Saturday
Read Lev 19:9–18, 26–37
Lev 19:30-37 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. (31) “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God. (32) “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. (33) “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. (34) You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (35) “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. (36) You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (37) And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.”
In the reading above you will read all sorts of commandments, statutes, precepts and the like. Some of them deal with the moral law. Some of them are ceremonial and some deal with aspects of Israelite life only. But the one constant theme throughout all of these is this: “I am the Lord.”
After each announcement of Law, we here that refrain. What’s going on here? I can only imagine it is this, that we remember who saved us, who delivered us, who is taking care of us, who is going to deliver us into the promise land. To be true these were given to Israel but many of the principles apply to us as well. Some of them might even be presented to governments as to what sort of laws they may want to enact. But it all comes down to this: The only true God is the Lord and He has a claim on your life.
If Jesus is the Lord, we as Christians need to remember this. We don’t simply go out and do as our sinful flesh pleases. We are to remember we are Jesus’, the Lord’s chosen people. Jesus didn’t give us as his people a whole list of laws, rules and regulations in the gospels and his apostles didn’t particularly either (we must remember when they spoke it is the voice of Jesus speaking). If there is any law that is out there that either Jesus or Jesus through the apostles gave us it is summed up in this: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Pretty simple, whatever you would want people to do to you, do to them. And whatever you don’t want people to do you, don’t do to them. Not that loving your neighbor earns you salvation. “I am Jesus, the Lord. I saved you. I claimed you in baptism. I made you my own people.” That claim is what saves us. When we have the Spirit in us that witnesses to that fact, our lives are new and we are not our own. Our desire in life is to lead a life pleasing to Jesus. Sure, we stumble and fall here and there but our eyes are fixed on the one who claims, “I am the Lord.” With our eyes fixed on Jesus our lives are then fixed on loving our neighbor. It’s simply what we do because we are his people.
Lord Jesus Christ, ever help us by your good Spirit, to live lives according to your will, giving praise to your name by living out your commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen