“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols: I am the Lord your God. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings. You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind: I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the old man: I am the Lord. You shall do no wrong in measures of length or weight or quantity. You shall have just balances: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:2-4, 9-18, 32,35-36
God commands Moses to tell the Israelites to be holy, for the LORD their God is holy, then proceeds to list an array of everyday situations that require holiness, each ending with “I am the LORD.” Hearing this refrain over and over plants its truth and truths deep in our motivations and psyche until it is obvious this remembrance is what God wants at the fore in how we see life and everything we do. Because I am Who I am, consider your work and others and station in life through the lens of my covenant relationship with you. I am the LORD. Be holy. Respect your parents, worship my way, treat others with generosity, equity, grace, respect, love… because I am the LORD. I am LORD over your parents, your devotion, your means of making a living, the poor among you, your tongue and hands, your judgment and conversations and relationships, your business dealings. Everything.
If God’s civil law included all these specifics, how are they translating to me and my everythings today? What difference would it make if when I first arise, I said, “You are the LORD,” and before I choose what to eat and what to read, “You are the LORD”? What might change if, when planning my schedule and contacts with others, and before I spend money and give advice, I said, “You are the LORD”? Not only will my focus and accountability be to Jesus rather than to self, but I will be reminded that He is the Sovereign in control and I am not. He is my Source and ‘raison d’etre.’ He is infinite, and all I plan and do is a drop in a bucket of His grand and providential scheme, all I determine myself is subservient to His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Father, may my ongoing refrain be “You are the LORD,” my highest aim be to make that obvious in everything I do. (Colossians 3:17)
