Leviticus 20 is a rather chilling chapter as God lays down the law for the punishment that He expected to be delivered when people did not follow His law. Death, stoning, cut off….no turning of the head when there was disobedience. This is serious consequences to sin. Sure some of the things are really bad – sacrificing children to a foreign God is pretty close to the top of my list. But some is not quite so obvious in today’s culture – sexual sin of many flavors or even taking action to act as God commands in punishing the sin around us. God expected action and obedience. Nothing has changed either. God still expects obedience.
I love what He says here: “Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am GOD, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the GOD who makes you holy”. We can learn a few things here about just how we can live a life of holiness:
- Set yourself apart – we often say to be in the world but not of the world. We have to choose to not just be part of what is happening and choose to live God’s way.
- Do what I tell you – obedience is the key of what we need to do.
- Live the way I tell you – God has given us most of what we need to know in His word. The rest He will tell us if we only ask.
- God is the One who makes us holy – as much as we might think it is something we do – the reality is that holiness only happens as we spend time with and walk closely with God. He alone will make us holy.
God gives some pretty short and clear instruction in this chapter. “I am God, your God….so live like it”. If we are called by His name and He is our God then it is high time we live like it and walk in obedience on the path toward holiness. Life matters – we need to live it His way every day!
