Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Laws Concerning Nieghbors & Family (Lev. 19:11-18)


10/13/2008 3:18 PM



SPIRITUAL DIARY



My Worship Time                    Focus:  Laws concerning neighbors and family



Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  Leviticus 19:11-18



            Message of the verses:  “11 ¶  ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.  12  ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.  13  ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.  14  ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.  15  ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.  16  ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.  17  ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.  18  ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”

            Four times in these eight verses are these words, “I am the Lord.”  These are set after a different set of laws that God is giving to His people Israel, and He wants to make sure that they listen to what He is telling the, and to make sure that they know who He is.

            Some of these laws are extensions to the Ten Commandments like not stealing and not robbing your neighbor.  I want to focus in on verse fifteen and compare it to what is going on in our country.  God says not to do injustice in judging different people, people who are rich or poor or family as all should be judged without partiality.  In verse eighteen the Lord gives these words, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus spoke these words in talking about the two greatest commandments and the first one was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul.  That covers the first part of the Ten Commandments and the last part is covered by loving your neighbor as yourself. 



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can only love my neighbor as myself through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and His Word all being used in my life.



My Steps of Faith for Today:



1.     Trust the Lord to continue to work in my life and to teach me patience and contentment. 



Memory verses for the week:                                  Exodus 20:12-16



12.      Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

13.      You shall not murder.

14.      You shall not commit adultery.

15.      You shall not steal.

16.      You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

No comments:

Post a Comment