Daily Devotions
The Foundation of God's Laws
Reading for January 23rd: Exodus 19-21
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
Exodus 20:2
This verse stands at the beginning of the Ten Commandments. It is the foundation of everything God wants to say to His people. The phrase "I am the LORD" or "I am the LORD your God" is found 49 times in the book of Leviticus. (And a large percentage of those instances is in chapters 18-20 where there is a concentration of moral and ethical teaching.)
What God is doing is making a connection between doctrine (our understanding of God and how we relate to him) and application (obedience to God). Why should Israel want to obey God and keep his commandments? Isn't it obvious? He brought them out of Egypt! He is their God!
What is the foundation of everything God is saying to us today? It is that our God has delivered us from our bondage to sin and made us His people.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10
Father, you redeemed us with the blood of your own Son! Help us to honor this gift by carefully following all of your commandments!
