You may be feeling ‘off the hook’ in relation to today’s passage. You can reflect on the past week and think “Well I haven’t robbed anyone, so I’ve had nothing to swear falsely about, and I didn’t find and keep anything that didn’t belong to me, and so I’m on pretty good terms with the people that I had fellowship with today at church, that part of Leviticus I like!” Sometimes we like to check boxes and feel we’re doing well, rather than explore the character of God behind the verses and allow ourselves to be challenged just a little. Remember God, through Moses, is speaking to the community of Israel, a community that is to be set apart as God’s people. United by the blood of Christ we should see ourselves as the same community, set apart as a resemblance of His kingdom on earth. Part of what that should mean is that our dealings with one another should be full of integrity, grace and love. In Luke 19: 1-10 we see how an encounter with Jesus Christ led Zacchaeus to return ‘fourfold’ all he had taken from others, not out of a detailed consideration of the criteria of the law, but as a loving response to a gracious Saviour who had extended an invitation to dine with Him and his friends. Pray that we would be a community that people are drawn to, set apart in our dealings with others, which should be continually marked with respect for others time, resources and property.
13th Sept (Sunday) - Leviticus 6: 1-7
13th September 2015