Because I am the LORD

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: 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 after your harvest… neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for 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 swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: 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 among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

“You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes… You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. You shall have just balances. I am the Lord your God.” Exodus 19:2-4,9-18,26,34-36

Because God is the LORD, He is practical. Because God is the LORD, He is thorough. Because God is the LORD, holy and good, and omniscient of human inclinations, He instructs His own with care and specificity so that we will be holy as He. (Jeremiah 17:9)

We need to keep hearing that He is the LORD our God, because we want to be god ourselves. We want to determine how to spend our days and resources. We want to choose whom to honor, and how, to dole out preference with favoritism or in measure of the good another has done us. We can fear man, or disease, or lost rights, or financial insecurity, more than we fear God.

And God says, revere and love Him first, behave remembering who we were and what He has done for us, and we will be progressively made holy. What panic, self-interest, or pride prevents us from accepting His words as for our good and sanctification?

Father, purify my every impulse and action. Make me holy to reflect to the world that You alone are LORD.