Monday after the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 26, 2024 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
In today’s brief reading twice we hear the phrase, “I am the Lord your God.” It is a phrase common to Scripture, used over one hundred fifty times. In this case, through His servant Moses God reminds the Israelites of His ultimate authority as He addresses the rampant immorality that surrounded them while they were in Egypt. They are also cautioned to shun the immorality of Canaan in the Promised Land.
The Israelites were God’s chosen people and were expected to live as such. “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. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”
Note these are not just mandates, but expected responses of sanctified living. God had delivered them from the yoke of Pharaoh, therefore they should live a life of thankfulness in response. God had delivered them from not only the slavery of sin, but from physical bondage. In other words, this is the ‘third use of the Law,’ where the Commandments serve as a rule or guide for how we should live. God grant us all to live such a life of thankfulness for His many blessings of earth and heaven.
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.
