Not Defiling Ourselves

 Most of us don't particularly like doing things that make us dirty. I know when I work on my truck or I do certain jobs in the yard, I just feel like I am filthy, and I take a shower as soon as possible to get the grime off. However, a shower won't get off the immoral things that stain our hearts and defile us before God. We need to stay away from those things all together.

God made His people aware of this when they came into the land of Canaan where the people had all types of terrible practices. (Leviticus 18:30) He told them to keep their commitment to Him not to practice any of the abominable customs which had been practiced before them, so that they would not defile themselves with them. He declared, "I am the Lord your God." The same is true for us today.

When we come to Christ as our Lord and Savior, we enter into a covenant with Him. We repent of our sins, and we repent of "sin." We make the commitment to God not to choose to sin any more, but to do His will. We realize that doing our own will and doing the things of this world are wrong because they lead us from the Lord. That repentance is for the rest of our life.

When the people around us have customs that are based in paganism, and they have practices that are against God's Word, we must not practice them to be accepted by others. We must not think that God will not punish us for those things. We are choosing to defile ourselves with them, and we are guilty before the Lord. We must listen to Him, not the people around us, because He is the Lord.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 19-22.