Today's passage: Leviticus 19
Helpful thoughts:
- God, having attributes only He possesses and being the creator of all things, is set apart from all the rest of creation. He is holy. One of the things God is set apart from is sin. If we are to grow in godliness (Or in Christ-likeness) we also must strive to be set apart from sin.
- Whenever something other than God takes the place of God in our hearts, more sin will soon follow.
- The Israelites were not to live as the Canaanites or other pagan peoples did in the land before them. Verses 26-31 contain many of their practices.
- The problem with the tattoos of verse 28 were that they were included in pagan worship. It wasn't the practice of tattooing itself, but the pagan worship that went along with it.
Questions to consider:
- In what ways can we see in this passage the greatest commandments being illustrated (Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself)?
- How were the people of Israel to treat “strangers” (Foreigners) who came into the land to live with them? What is the difference between a stranger who lives next to Israel and a stranger who lives with Israel? What were those strangers to become once they moved into Israel?
- How should a person live after their salvation, after they become part of the church?