God Walks With His People
Scripture Reading — Leviticus 26:3-17
“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”
Leviticus 26:12
Leviticus is not an easy book to read. It is full of rules that apply to the Israelites in the Old Testament. God set up those rules to make for himself a new people that would bless all other peoples, through a Savior.
God had brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but they had not yet entered the promised land. God promised to bless them, and they were responsible to keep his commands. God promised to make their life fruitful, to live among them, and to walk with them; he would be their God, and they would be his people. But if they walked away from God and rejected his commands, he would punish them.
Throughout Israel’s long history the people often wandered from God, and the Lord had to keep shepherding them back onto safe pathways. Sometimes he had to punish them for their wickedness and rebellion, but he always maintained a remnant of faithful followers. And eventually from those people God provided the Savior, Jesus. He fulfilled the Old Testament law for the sake of God’s people and then paid the price for the punishment of sin.
God promises to bless us today as well, and he calls us to be faithful. God walks with us too; he is our God, and we are his people. And today, through Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit to help us walk faithfully with God. Let’s thank God today for Jesus and the Spirit, who help us to live by the Word of the Lord.
Father, thank you for walking with us and providing the way for us to live. Through Jesus and your Spirit, help us walk faithfully with you. Amen.
About the author — Adrian A. Helleman
Dr. Adrian Helleman served as a pastor in British Columbia before being called to serve as a missionary-teacher in the Philippines. He and his wife, Wendy, later taught philosophy at Moscow State University in Russia, and then philosophy and theology at the University of Jos in Nigeria. They have also lectured in Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Tanzania. They have three children and three grandchildren.
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