Daily Devotions
Made for Something Better
Reading for February 10th: Leviticus 26-27
“I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”
Leviticus 26:11-13
As Leviticus comes to a close, we come to this chapter where a list of blessings and curses are given. The blessings are for Israel if they are faithful to God’s commands and the curses are promised if they are unfaithful. As is the case with a similar list in Deuteronomy (ch 28), the list of curses is three times as long as the list of blessings (33 verses devoted to the curses versus 11 for blessings).
But our text for today’s devotion is at the end of the list of blessings, and it reminds Israel that they were redeemed for better things. He wanted to walk and to dwell (literally, tabernacle) among them and be their God. It was not God’s will that they should be slaves or live a hard and difficult life in the land. They were made for God.
Of course, we find that the history of God's people mirrors almost exactly what we read in this chapter. They experience the curses listed here about three times as often as they enjoy the blessings God wanted to give them. Their stubbornness and idolatry kept them from God's blessings.
The same is true for us. We make life so much more difficult than it has to be. Obedience is not always easy, but it’s never complicated. We know God’s will. Ours is not a knowing problem, but a doing problem. And our lives are needlessly difficult because of it.
Father, what have you required of us but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you? Our willful pride always seems to get in the way! Humble us so that you might tabernacle among us and be our God.
