Let's take a moment to consider the book of Leviticus, the third book of the Pentateuch. This is a challenging book to understand, especially considering the ancient context and the fact that we no longer live under the Old Testament Law with its various rules and requirements. Leviticus unpacks many of the ceremonial rules that Israel was commanded to follow as part of their calling as God's chosen people.

Repeated throughout the book is the command to "be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2 ESV). This makes sense. God's people were specially chosen and set apart by Him to be a light to the surrounding nations and show the world what it looked like to live in communion with a holy God.

When we move to the New Testament, we're told of the abiding need for holiness in the lives of God's people. The Apostle Peter reminds us of this when he quotes Leviticus in his epistle. He writes that "as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy”" (1 Peter 1:15-16). The call to holiness is not limited to God's Old Testament people but extends to the life of the Christian as well. Since the Christian is no longer under the Law with its rituals and ceremonies, how do we live lives of holiness today?

Part of the answer lies back in Peter's epistle. Throughout the entire letter, we're given exhortations on what a life of holiness looks like. Here are just a few of many.

• Keep your focus on the things of God and not on the things of this world (1 Peter 1:13–17).
• Never forget the great cost of your redemption from sin (1 Peter 1:17-19).
• Continually "love one another" (1 Peter 1:22).
• Set aside your former self and "long for the pure spiritual milk" (1 Peter 2:2) of the Word of God.
• "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

I would encourage you to read the book of 1 Peter while considering what a life of holiness looks like. Pray that God the Spirit will increasingly empower you to live a life of holiness and in conformity to Jesus Christ.

Today we find ourselves in the book of Exodus, which continues Moses' historical account of the people of Israel. If you remember back in Genesis, Joseph's family had come to Egypt during the famine, having received Pharoah's blessing to enter the land. The first chapter of Exodus reminds us of this humble beginning. Although they began as 70 people (Exodus 1:5), they eventually became "fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them" (Exodus 1:7 ESV).

But the people of Israel soon encountered a problem. We read that "there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). This king, fearful of their great numbers, enslaved the people of Israel and even put their newborn sons to death. Despite this horrific situation, God was still at work to deliver His people and fulfill His promise.

In Exodus 2:23-25 we read that "the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help." We see that "God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel - and God knew" (Exodus 2:24-25). Although the situation looked dire, God hadn't forgotten His people. God was faithful to deliver Joseph and his family from the famine, and He would continue to be faithful to His promise that Abraham's descendants would be "as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore" (Genesis 22:17).

As we read the rest of Exodus (and Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and...) we see that God did exactly what He promised. He raised up His servant Moses to lead God's people out of Egypt. He later raised up Joshua to lead the charge into the promised land. Today, we see God's promises to Abraham fulfilled in Jesus and the Church (Galatians 3:29). When we consider the great multitude of Saints from all tongues, tribes, and nations, we see that God was faithful to His promise that Abraham's descendants would be as innumerable as the stars of the sky or as grains of sand on a beach.
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Because God has and always will fulfill His promises, let's consider what this means for the Christian.
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1. The Word of God with all its promises serves as an immovable anchor and true north for the Christian whereas the wisdom and promises of the world are at best untrustworthy and at worst perilous to the soul.
2. The Christian can live without fear. Even in the worst of circumstances, the child of God can take hold of the promise that nothing can separate him from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39) and of the eternal salvation he's received through Jesus' atoning death.
3. One promise yet to be fulfilled is the return of Christ. Because God always keeps His promises, the Christian can live with the absolute certainty that Jesus will return and that we'll spend an eternity with Him in glory.

Never forget that our God is the perfect promise keeper. Take a moment to thank Him for this remarkable truth.

In the book of Genesis, we read about the life of Joseph. If you remember how the story goes, Joseph was one of twelve sons of his father Israel (formerly Jacob). Being the son of Israel's beloved wife Rachel, Joseph was specially loved by his father. Because of this, Joseph's brothers developed a deep hatred for him, which was only accentuated by Joseph's dreams of them bowing down before him. When the opportunity presented itself, the brothers formed a plan and sold Joseph into slavery.

Joseph found himself in Egypt where he was bought by Potiphar to serve in his household. After being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, Joseph spent two years in an Egyptian prison, only being released after accurately interpreting Pharaoh's dreams. His "luck" quickly changed when he now found himself as the number two man over all the nation of Egypt. His task was to prepare for the coming seven years of famine.

If we jump ahead in the story, we find Joseph once again reunited with his brothers who have since moved to Egypt to escape the foretold famine. His brothers are worried that now that their father had died, Joseph would want to extract his revenge. "But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (Genesis 50:19-20 ESV). God had been working behind the scenes to accomplish something remarkable. The brothers did something genuinely wicked in selling Joseph into slavery, but God was using that event to save Joseph's family, the Egyptians, and countless others in the midst of this famine.

What does this mean for us today? It means that things may not always be as they appear. Although we witness terrible things happening in the world, we need to remember that God is still at work accomplishing remarkable things. I can't tell you exactly how God uses tragedy and the evil intentions of man to accomplish His plan, but I trust that He does. There truly is no meaningless evil.

This is especially true for the Christian because "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

God is weaving a divine tapestry that won't be fully seen until we're with Him in glory. When it's finally and totally revealed we'll all agree that God's plan was good. God's plan was infinitely better.

What an awesome God we have!