#2 Keeping Up with Leviticus 22:31

Leviticus 22:31

So you shall keep my commandments and do them; I am the Lord.

When we looked at Deuteronomy 6:5, we focused in on the importance of loving the Lord. That was the central point of the verse. But from that idea of love came so much more. Once we grasp the idea of love, our life and actions must reflect it. Two ways that we can do that is by learning from our past and leading others to the things that we have learned. But today, we are going to look at another result of this idea of love.

If we are going to tell others that we are loving God, then we must have the actions to prove it. God commands us to keep His laws (or commandments), this verse shows that. And if we neglect to follow His laws, then we are showing that we do not truly love Him. By breaking His commands, we show that we are not committed to His ways. We also hint that we may not trust God as much as we say we do. We may feel that He will not or cannot do all that He says He can. Disobedience paints an ugly picture in our lives. People would expect to see this beautiful drawing where God has covered our life with His love and mercy. But instead, they see where we have gone over that painting with blacks and grays. They see the mistakes we have made and the cover ups that we have created.

Once again, I feel that this call to love and obey is fairly simple and straightforward. But truthfully, it can be one of the hardest things in life. I feel that it all boils down to one central problem, ourself. First off, we feel overwhelmed by the amount of commands that we are given. Look through the Books of Law, and you will be confronted with hundreds or thousands of commands. This chapter in Leviticus has several itself. Because we feel overwhelmed, we then began realizing that we cannot do this alone. We get this idea that it is utterly impossible to fully obey God. So many people quit immediately. They do not see the point. But then there are those who want to follow God daily. They desire to obey His commands and focus completely on not failing. Instead of looking to God for guidance in this daunting task, they try to do it on their own strength. The results are that they fail, and with the failure comes disappointment.

Both of these examples are extremes. We cannot give up and quit because we feel that we could never keep all of God's commands. But at the same time, we cannot become so focused on this task that we end up leaving God out of it. Instead, we have to go to God with this. He is the one who wants us to be obedient. But He does not give us a command, walk away, and just watch our attempts at obedience. Instead, He reaches out to us, and when we accept His gift of salvation, He remains with us as we learn what it means to live a holy life. He helps us along the way, and we are never left alone. We must go to Him, putting our trust in Him.

So love God, and show your love by obeying His commands. He is the Lord, and the only one worth serving.

Matt