I Love Leviticus!

There are those of you out there cringing at the very thought. At one time, I probably did too. Levitical Law does not conjure up warm fuzzies. Law means rules and most of us are not fans of rules. Two years ago, I began to develop a like for Leviticus. This last week, though, has brought a love for this book, because interwoven are precious messages of hope. I appreciate it more and more in light of my children. 

I recently described how different my children are to some friends. One child will follow the rules yet could easily be mislead. One child loves rules and will remind others of the rules when it looks like others are not obeying. One child will find the loophole in every rule. (I will leave it up to you to guess who is whom.)  It is this rule-bender that has made me appreciate Leviticus so much. 

Rule-bender example #1

When we were doing homeschool overseas, I would go to our "principal" in enormous frustration over this rule-bender. Principal (also a rule-bender) would ask what directions I had given said student. I had said, "do A, B, C," or, "don't do X, Y, or Z."  Principal would ask what the student did. I said that Rule-bender did J, K, and L. Principal would point out that I said nothing about J, K, or L. I did not understand why I had to spell everything out for Rule-bender. 

Rule-bender example #2

Rule-bender would come asking to watch television or have a snack. We as parents would say no or wait only to find this child asking again five minutes later. In exasperation, we would tell Rule-bender not to ask again. Five minutes later, Rule-bender did not come ask us but sent a sibling to ask us. We learned to say, "Don't ask again and don't have a sibling ask either." We had to very specific with Rule-bender to prevent issues. 

Who thinks like that? Apparently the Israelites did! For example, one of the Big Ten is, "Do not commit adultery." Just in case anyone had questions about the definition of adultery, Leviticus has at least two chapters on what constitutes immoral relations.  Among regulation after regulation regarding cleanliness and what it means be idolatrous, a phrase repeats itself, "I am the Lord your God." 

Just in case anyone began to forget why the Lord was able to set forth the Law, a reminder was given of all that the Lord had done for them. The Lord is the One who brought them out of Egypt. The Lord is holy and calls His people to be holy, thus the Lord defines for the people what holy means. 

Now, you are saying, "Lisa, you are confirming for me why Leviticus is not my favorite book."  Stay with me!

The best news comes in Leviticus 20:7-8. 

"You shall consecrate yourselves, therefore and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.  And you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you."

Yes, I am called to be holy. Yes, I am to keep and practice what the Lord commands. But it is not me that sanctifies myself.  It is the Lord!  In case I missed it in chapter 20, the Lord repeats Himself three times in chapter 21 that He is the One who sanctifies.  It is in the strength of the Lord that I am able to obey and be made holy! I often get worn out because, consciously or unconsciously, I am trying to do what God directs in my own strength and am trying to make myself holy. We don't have to wear ourselves out. It is the Lord who saves and sanctifies me!  What freedom that is to me! 

So, I love Leviticus! 

Don't Move!

Those two words can be the hardest to obey. Every week day now I go for radiation treatments. It is likely to have some side effects, but they are cumulative. Thus far, I do not notice them.  The actual radiation procedure is painless and relatively short. On the other hand, not moving for the twenty minutes that I am lying there is by far the hardest part. 

Whenever I am told not to move, I suddenly feel like I itch everywhere. A sneeze wants to come out. A cough begins in my throat. At first, the tendons in my shoulder would pulsate from not being accustomed to being in that position for that long, particularly after my surgery. I had to learn to control every reflex and natural impulse within me. The radiation is directed at where the cancer was in order to keep it from returning. It is an art to coordinate, because misdirection could negatively effect my heart or lungs. If I move, I mess up the art and subject my healthy organs to damage.  So self-control is very important in this phase of my treatment. 

Self-control. Such a yucky word these days. 

I saw a story on television last week about a man who was promoting non-monogamy. 

(Please stay with me, do not get hung up on this topic.)  I found it interesting that the television show followed that story with a conversation with their "marriage expert" to discuss the pros and cons of this man's theory. (I have to put quotes around that because the expert has only been married fourteen years. As we approach our eighteenth anniversary, I am more aware than ever that I am not an expert on marriage, but I digress.) The non-monogamist had stated that humans are not naturally wired to be monogamist. The expert made a point that I really appreciated. There are lots of things that we are not naturally wired to do, but as humans, we rise above that and practice self-control. 

We may not be wired to live in fidelity, but we do for the sake of love and respect for our spouse.

We are not naturally wired to eat with utensils, but we, in the Western world, do it anyway. 

We are not wired to wear clothes, but we do, some more than others.

We are not wired to control our tongue, but we....

Well we should. I should. 

James in his epistle tells us, "no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of a deadly poison."(3:8) 

If I can control my whole body's natural reflexes for the sake of my heart, why can I not control my tongue for the sake of someone else's heart? 

Self-control is a component of the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, it is listed last, maybe because it is the least attractive. All of the other components sound nice, but this one, not so much. However, as a component of the fruit of the Spirit, it is to be evident in the life of every believer, but it is only possible when we live by the Spirit. 

Not Conceited, Just Convinced!

Early on in our marriage, my husband would say this phrase. It was always good for a laugh. Truth is, in life, there is always going to be somebody better. For example, the Patriots beat the Seahawks last night, but next season, another team will beat the Patriots at some point. 

Last week, I was writing to a friend of mine and wanted to brag about my husband. He has been amazing during this journey, even getting kids ready for school, which is a big deal for a non-morning person. However, as I began to write "best husband ever," I had to stop my typing. Not that he is not amazing, but I considered the many other husbands who have seen their wives through the same and so much more. A friend's mom was recently diagnosed with cancer for the third time, and yet, her dad would still do anything for her mom. Though I still would say my husband is amazing, I cannot diminish the care that other husbands have provided for their wives.

So when a person proclaims their greatness or seeks out personal glory, we say they are conceited. However, for God to do it, it is not conceited, when it is true. Conceited is defined as being excessively proud of one's self, i.e. more proud of one than they should be.  God though earnestly is worthy of glorifying Himself, because there is none greater to whom He could give glory.

God reminded Job that He was the One who created the world and set it in place and keeps it spinning. God is the One who puts boundaries on the ocean's tide and keeps earth the perfect distance from the sun for human life to continue to exist.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that the Lord was able to save them from the fiery furnace, and yet they would praise Him even if He did not.  I know that the Lord is able to cure me of this cancer, but even if He chooses not to do so, I will yet praise Him. Daniel continued to pray to God even when he knew he would get thrown in the lions' den, I suppose, knowing that God could rescue him if He chose to do so.

In ancient Egypt, the Pharoah was often seen as a god, as sent from god at minimum. Yet, it was God Almighty who would harden the heart of Pharoah so that His glory might be seen greater. When the plague of hail came, there was a portion of the Egyptians who feared the Lord, rather than Pharoah, and hid their animals from the coming hail. When the last plague of the death of the firstborn came, the Egyptians went to the Israelites. Rather than going to seek revenge, they recognized the greatness of Yahweh and begged His people to leave, even giving them jewelry to do so. 

God is not being conceited when He seeks to be glorified and praised, even if the rocks have to do it, because His greatness indeed is all surpassing. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the greatness of our God, whether on this side of eternity or the next. God is not conceited, just convinced, and one day everyone else will be also!