Journal Entry // March 29, 2022
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Leviticus 19:1-2 ESV
“I am the Lord your God.” Over and over, again and again this is the phrase that God ends his call to be faithful and obedient to his laws and commandments. I feel like I am continually looking for the right motivation or the proper desire to be obedient. I want to dig deep within myself and stir up faithfulness and obedience. It’s like I am working to convince myself that being obedient to the laws and commandments of God is the right and proper thing to do. I miss the simple reasoning of my Father, “I am the Lord your God.”
Isn’t this the good and proper rationale for faithfulness? I want to convince myself that if I am obedient that God will bless me or I will receive all these “good” things in my life from obedience. To be sure there is a measure of success and blessing that comes from being obedient and faithful. But there is no measure of faithfulness by the material blessings of life or the improved health of the body or the acclaim I may receive. There is only one motivation for faithful obedience, “I am the Lord your God.”
This is simply a beautiful statement and picture of my Father’s care and concern for me. The motivation for faithful obedience is that I want to be like my Father. I want to please my heavenly Father and feel his smile upon me. I want to be holy, because the Lord my God is holy. I want to be faithful because my Father is faithful. I want to be obedient, because my Savior demonstrated that obedience is an act of love. This is my gift to my Father. I want to honor him through faithful obedience.
Holiness is a matter for by my body and my mind (2 Corinthians 7:1). This call to holiness requires attention to both my outward actions and my inward desires. It is impossible to be holy as the Lord is holy by only focusing on one and neglecting the other. No, the calling from the Lord is to see faithful obedience in all areas of my life. The mental inward life needs to be brought under obedience just as much, if not more, than my physical actions. I can go about my day without even the slightest sign of sin in my actions but my heart and mind can be filled completely with the filth of sin. This mask of outward obedience will deceive not only those around me, but myself. As the saying goes, “Sow a thought, reap an act; Sow an act, reap a habit; Sow a habit, reap a character.”
This is why the Lord is continually reminding me that faithful obedience is grounded in the Lord himself. He is my reward. He is my pleasure. He is my comfort. He is my treasure. He is my love. I am to be holy simple because he is holy. I am to be holy, because of love. A love for God that flows out of his heart for me. So I humble myself before my Lord and I come in repentance before him. Not just once a day. Not just two or three times a day, but continually. I come to the Lord in humble repentance continually throughout the day because my heart and mind stray so regularly. And my gracious God will forgive me. His mercy and grace are more vast than the entirety of the universe. His mercy and grace are never diminished. No, the riches of his grace increase each and every time I come to him in humble repentance. My God grows the riches of his mercy and kindness as he forgives me once again. This is faithful obedience. This is the pleasure of my Father. This is my offering to the Lord God. And he will bring holiness in my life just as He is holy.