Monday after the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 4, 2023 by under
Scripture: Leviticus 18:1-5 (NKJV)
18:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”
Devotion
God wants us to not be unduly influenced by the world around us, especially when the world permits, and even encourages, practices that the Lord God condemns and forbids in His Law. This chapter of Leviticus condemns very specifically a number of sexual practices that were common both in Egypt (where sexual relationships between close family members were practiced) and in Canaan (where the worship of Baal and Asherah involved any number of sexual perversions).
Today, the world tells us that anything we do is OK as long as there is no “victim”. God’s Law says differently. Even today, most of the acts depicted in Leviticus 18 are considered abominations, but not all of them. St. Paul uses some of these as examples in Romans, chapters 1 and 2, to show how original sin infects each and every one of us.
Thanks be to God, though, that even these are sins for which Christ took on human flesh, lived, suffered, and died to forgive us. In this way, these sins are like all of the other sins we can commit. We should not self-righteously declare ourselves innocent and lord it over those who have such a past or such weaknesses. Rather, we should help our brothers and sisters flee such temptations and live as God commands us.
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
