"You are bigger than everyone else so act like
it!" I heard a young coach holler across the soccer field at the bigger
than average boy. The coach was reminding the player to use his natural
advantages or as some athletes have called it,
God-given abilities to help his team win the game.
I'm still in those "Miscellaneous Laws" in my
reading in Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy
24:1-8, God tells the Israelites:
that if a man divorces a woman for something indecent, she
remarries, is divorced again, not to remarry her;
that a newly married man is not to be sent to war but is to be given a year to stay home
and make his wife happy;
not to take any millstone as a security for a loan;
that kidnapping a fellow Israelite to make a slave or sell
as a slave is grounds for the death penalty; and
in cases of a leprous disease to do exactly as the priests
instruct.
It seems to me that God is telling the Israelites how to act
like Israelites. They belong to the One True God. He gives some "do's and
don'ts".
Don't associate with
known indecent people. (From verses 1-4, if it's obvious she has not changed
from the first time he married her, as she was divorced again, don't get
involved.)
Do bring your spouse happiness. Make your spouse's well being your priority.
Don't take advantage of another's misfortune and prolong it
by taking their livelihood.
Do purge evil among the community.
They are Israelites and here is how to live like an
Israelite. God tells the Israelites they are blessed with the Promised Land and
they are to be caring, honest, upright and pure. Why?
They have been given a great new life
by a great God so don't taint it with sin. Their sin will reflect upon
God's gifts and reputation.
In today's world we try not to judge people by how they look but rather how they
act. We do form opinions of others by
how they behave. Too many times, I've
thought, "Who is that person's mother?
Who raised that person to behave so inappropriately?" We think we can be free to be and do whatever
we wish and we even think we are the only one with consequences. Yet our family, friends and associates will
experience consequence from our personal choices. Just watch the news. When a politician acts
outside the norm of acceptable behavior, his party members are quick to
disassociate.
So it matters how I act and live my life. My life choices will reflect on God's good
gifts and reputation. I'm a believer in
God and I've made it public so I do have to live His way.
I'm always frustrated when I hear "the church is full
of hypocrites" but I have to admit that
there have been some poor representatives of Christians.
The final "do" in my list of "do's and
don'ts" of how to live like a believer is "Do again what God said to do."
In verses 8 and 9 I am reminded that we are human and we will fail to
live God's way and we might fail to be a good representative for Him. There is Good News.
Miriam, Moses' own sister, spoke against Moses and therefore
God. The consequence was she had leprosy
which meant she had to leave the community, everyone had to shun her for their
own protection. This was severe
consequence for challenging God's chosen leader. Yet Moses cried out to God and pleaded with
God to heal her. So God instructed them
to confine her outside the camp for 7 days.
Then she came back to another opportunity to live like an Israelite and
the Israelites waited for her. (Numbers 12)
God loves us so much that when we misbehave, when don't act
like a Christian, when we sin, He provides for our forgiveness. The Israelites were told to go the priests
and do what they instructed to be healed.
God has given me Jesus as my advocate and my sacrifice so I can have a
second, third, fourth... chance to live like a believer.
I'm comforted by this list so I know how to live. I'm relieved to know that when I fail, God
has a plan to restore me. He and my
community of believers wait for me to get back on the path of living God's way. Today I'll act like a believer!
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