Encouragement for Life

Have you read the book of Leviticus lately?  As you may know it is the third book of the Old Testament and it contains the laws and rituals to be followed in offering the various sacrifices God required. It also contains rules and regulations regarding cleanliness and moral living.  As I read through the book recently, I couldn’t help but be thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin payment. I don’t think I could have kept up with all the sacrifices required for the Israelites. 

Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets hang on two commandments. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).  He was the sacrifice for sin and made a way for our salvation. It is only through Jesus that we can be rescued from our sinful state. It does require our faith and obedience to Him. But it is not obedience to rules and regulations, or even the offering of various animal sacrifices.  Jesus asks us to commit our ways to His ways. 

Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength requires our whole being. Our emotions, our spiritual being, our mind, and our physical being are all involved in loving God. It is a submission of our will to His will.  I wonder why we find that so difficult to do? Especially when we know doing things in God’s way works out better than doing things in our own way.  And sometimes I find it difficult to take time for prayer and Bible study, when that is so much easier than taking a sheep or goat to be sacrificed at the temple. 

Let’s think about that!