a daily sacrifice

Leviticus is God’s commandments to his people on how they are to relate with him and with one another.  Through the ordination of his priests, the sacrificial system, and the laws, God creates a way for his people to consecrate themselves to him and to be a nation completely set apart from the surrounding people groups.  In chapter 26, God explicitly states the consequences for adherence to this covenant and for choosing to disobey.  Door number one leads to total provision and an intimate “walking” with God.  Door number two, which they eventually chose, leads to utter destruction.  Simply put, it was a choice between 1) trusting that God was who he declared himself to be and honors his word, and 2) trusting in their own logic, impulses and desires to conform to their surrounding world and an unbelief in God’s integrity. 

As Christians, we are given the same choice daily.  Do we desire to be wholly consecrated (set apart) to God or do we desire more the things of this life (acceptance from others, possessions, the illusions of stability and comfort)? Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to “present their bodies as living sacrifices to God” and to “not be conformed to this world” (Rom 12.1,2).  The specifics look different for everyone; however, the general concept resounds clearly: Through your actions, motives, relationships, etc, are you displaying a life that’s lived for God alone?  In many ways, this is the most important question that can be asked post-conversion, and it is asked in almost every moment of life.  From its answer flows either abundant life (John 10.10) or another lesson to be learned the hard way.  

Family Traditions

Through my study of Genesis, a continual theme kept emerging: the way a person lives his life directly affects the lives of his offspring.  Adam and Eve choose sin -> all of humanity is cursed; Noah lives righteously before God -> humanity is saved.  Ham dishonors Noah -> his entire line of descendents is cursed. Abraham believes God -> Isaac is given the same blessing from God. Isaac and Rebekah chose favorites -> their children struggle against one another most of their lives.  Jacob lives selfishly -> most of his children live the same way.  It is one story after another of real humans making choices that have direct consequences (good and bad) on their children.  And it is no different for us today. 

The sins of the parents generally become the struggles of the children.  Addictions and flaws are transmitted in the same way as hair color and height.  With one redemptive difference, there is a choice.  The destructive cycle of generational sins is passed through each generation; therefore, each generation is given the ability to end the cycle.  To grant even more hope, Genesis shows us that God honors the slightest acts of faithfulness and magnifies his blessings to future generations.  For me, this brings home the sobering truth that we are not living our lives for ourselves alone.  As much as we would like to believe that we are the only ones that suffer for our own sins, this is not true.  And what is more, the ramifications on our offspring can be in place before they even exist.  All of this is to say that we need to live our lives as if others’ lives depend on our choices. Because they do.