Daily Devotional #1,770

Years ago, I remember asking a pastor what the reason was for the book of Leviticus in the Bible. It is all about  specific ceremonies and rules on how to do things and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say that book is their  favorite in the Bible. He said “Well, what comes before Leviticus?” I said “Exodus”. “And then what is the  big story in Exodus?” I told him that it was about God delivering his people from their slavery in Egypt and  how he used Moses to make that come about. He said “Absolutely right! You see Exodus is all about God  freeing the people he loved from their bondage. It is about getting the people out of Egypt. All that stuff you  see in Leviticus…is getting the Egypt out of the people!” The Jewish people had been slaves in Egypt for  several hundred years. That’s all they knew of life. And as the centuries went by, they became more and more  ingrained in the culture, religions, lifestyle and morals of that nation. God was calling them to be a people in a  deep and personal relationship with him and to live differently from all the nations on earth. He did a great  miracle, and the people of Israel just walked out of Egypt…eventually. They were free…but they were the  same people, doing pretty much the same things and holding on to many of the same values as they had in  Egypt. But God declared that he is radically different from all of us…he is holy. And he wants his people to be  different too…to be holy. What we see in those two books of the Old Testament is God preparing us for his  deliverance from the consequences of our sin. We are set free by embracing the forgiveness of our sin that was  purchased by this Jesus of the Bible on the cross. We call that salvation. But then we are much like the same  old people…just forgiven. God’s plan…the destiny of every human being who will come in faith to him is to  be conformed to the image of his son Jesus. That is called sanctification. If you have chosen to believe and  follow this Jesus of the Bible…then you have salvation. But the challenge now is to become like Christ. To  honor him with our lives, but also to allow our new lives to be the evidence of the reality and love and kindness  of God. So, remember what God desires for you…first to be saved from the consequences of our sins, but then  to be like this Jesus, his son, and live well with love and grace and forgiveness so that we might honor him and  be a signpost that points to God himself. Remember, he says that’s now our destiny. Get started or keep going  ahead to get that “Egypt” out of you! Here’s our Bible verse for today…  
Romans 8:29 BSB For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so  that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.  
Remember I’m praying for you!  
With love, PJ