“For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.”
Leviticus 11:45
Rules…when we hear that word, perhaps our first response is what little Pam told her big brother, “You not da boss-a-me!” But then we remember why our parents gave us rules about not touching hot stoves or playing in the street…about brushing our teeth or going to bed. Those rules sprang from a heart of love that wanted to shelter THEIR children.
The book of Leviticus is full of rules that seem strange, unless we hear the loving heart from which they came. God answered the why rules question quite simply: I am the Lord, I delivered you so I could be your God, I am holy, so to have relationship with Me, you must be holy too.
As He defined those rules, God repeatedly opened His heart by declaring, “I am the Lord your God.” And opening it even wider, “I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.” (Lev. 20:26) Each one of God’s rules came from another beat of that loving heart.
God does not make rules to control His people…He makes rules to release them into a new life…relationship with a holy God who treasures them as His very own.
Rules for relationship…
I definitely want those kind of rules to be da boss-a-me!
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