A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek
16 February 2024
Reading From Leviticus 11-13
“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.”
–Leviticus 11:44-47
Many of the laws given through Moses to Israel promoted the physical and societal health of God’s people. But the effect of Mosaic Law ran deeper than that. Following the laws of Yahweh distinguished His people from the horrifically wicked cultural practices of the nations around them. It set them apart. That is what holiness is about. I Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The King James Version calls us a “peculiar people.”
Sometimes it is better to be different, even good to be thought of as weird if it means following what God wants rather than going with the flow. My mother taught me from the time I was a small boy that the whole world could be doing something wrong, but that doesn’t make it right. Followers of Jesus were persecuted for spreading the gospel even when the church was very young. In Acts 5 the Bible says, “The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’ Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than human beings!’”[1] Even under intense force from powerful leaders, God’s people remained faithful to following His ways. In today’s society, there is tremendous pressure to fit in. It takes courage to go against the grain and live how God calls us to live.
“Lord, give me the strength I need to follow You. Help me to obey Your Word even when it isn’t popular to do so. Show me what it means to lead a holy life in today’s world.”
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time
–II Timothy 1:9
[1] Acts 5:27-29
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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