The Golden Rule – Leviticus 19:18

Wake Up Call

I hardly ever spend any time in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. It’s mostly a book of rules, rules, and more rules. These were given to Moses for the people to govern their everyday lives: laws about animals for food; laws of motherhood; how to test for leprosy; the procedure for cleansing a leper, etc. etc. etc.

But guess what I found recently while paging through Leviticus on my way to some other book? I found the Golden Rule embedded in Chapter 19. It says in verse 18: “…but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” It was sandwiched in between some more mundane laws.

This is the very thing Jesus said. When the scribes of His day asked which commandment was the foremost He told them that loving your neighbor as yourself was second only to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

Today we are not so different from the “church” of the Old Testament. We need laws to govern our everyday issues and rules to manage how we function within the church and the rest of the world. That’s fine. But let’s prioritize things the way Jesus told us to. There may be many rules but we should especially love and follow the one that is GOLDEN.

 

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