Exodus 22 continues laying out guidelines for how the Israelites were to begin to be changed in how they treated one another and how they loved God. God’s love for us is at the heart of all His instructions. How could you steal if you had love for the person you stole from? If an animal in your care was injured or stolen how could you not want to make restitution? How could you seduce a virgin and not love her as your wife? How could you love God and consort with evil spirits? How could you offer a sacrifice to an object? How could you mistreat a foreigner when you yourselves were foreigners? How could you take advantage of the most vulnerable – widows and orphans – especially in that time when they were so dependent upon a male protector? How could you lend money to one in need and cause financial hurt by charging interest? How could you blaspheme the very God, Creator of the Universe, who does so much for you every moment of your life? How could you not realize your firstborn son belongs to God as do you? We are God’s children. “You are to be my holy people.” v. 31.

I just started reading Devotional 2, The Chosen 40 Days With Jesus, and it begins in Day 1 with Jesus asking His disciples “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” v. 16. In the Devotional it continues: He’s eager to do the same for us. Who do you say I am is a question Jesus asks every single person. Once we can see that He is the Christ and we surrender our lives to Him, He affirms our identity: We are chosen. We have been redeemed. We have been summoned by name, and we are His. This miracle is so personal and so powerful that nothing in our lives will ever be the same. Low-key as the act may seem to be on the surface, there is nothing more jaw-droppingly epic than knowing Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. They were pointing out that the disciples had witnessed many of Jesus’s miracles and that this moment of conversation with them was perhaps the greatest miracle…the Father revealing the Son’s identity.

God wants us to be His love for others. He gave us guidelines for how to treat one another with respect and care and how to love Him. It’s personal. His love is deeply personal. When you ask Him to come into your life, your life will be changed. That change will take all of your life as you walk with Him and let Him show you how to love Him and how to love others.

This morning He showed me that this world and all of its cares are a distraction from what is eternal. He was showing me, 4 days later, that the passionate argument I engaged in with our daughter and granddaughters involving politics, was the world’s cares and concerns. I’ll vote, I’ll live in this world but its desires so grounded in hate, greed and intolerance will not be my focus. Be His love to them. That is eternal. Be His love. I can’t do that without Him and I am so grateful for that. I want to walk with Him. You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I gladly take Your hand!