“Living in Fear” – FBC Morning Light (2/19/2024)

Well good Monday morning to you. I hope you had a great weekend and a good time with God's people yesterday and worshiping the

Lord and Hearing from him through his word. Well today in our Bible reading. We're finishing up the book of Leviticus.

I I know that Probably if you're following along and you're doing the Bible reading plan and you've read through you're reading through book of Leviticus You're finishing it up today.

You're you're kind of going like boy Leviticus is not one of those books of the

Bible that is typically one of the favorites if you will

And and there's a lot in it that seems to be seems to be unrelated to New Testament Christianity I hope some of our devotionals have helped you realize that there is some value some great value in the book of Leviticus And we see it today in chapters 26 and 7 you want to zero in on chapter 26

You know, the Lord here is really kind of bringing all of his Law that he has written down for Israel for the nation of Israel encapsulating both the the moral law the deck log and the civil law and the ceremonial law and He says in chapter 26 verse 3 and following If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and perform them then he spends the next several verses

Talking about the blessings that will be theirs if they walk according to his statutes keep his commandments and perform them but then in verse 23 and following he deals with The what if you don't he says if by these things you are not reformed by me, but walk contrary to me

Then I also will walk contrary to you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins

In other words, if you're obedient you walk according to my statutes and obey my commands keep my commands

I'll bless you. If you don't you're gonna be sorry. You're gonna be sorry if you live in a state of perpetual disobedience and And with that in mind in that context,

I want to focus on Verse 36 so in meantime, the Lord is basically said, you know you as a nation as a people are gonna suffer

Great great loss you're gonna have enemies come in and conquer you and all this kind of stuff if you as a nation

Disobey me and so then in verse 36 he says and as for those of you who are left Those who are left

I will send faintness into their hearts and the lands of their enemies The sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee

They shall flee as though fleeing from a sword and they shall fall when no one pursues They shall stumble over one another as as as it were before a sword when no one pursues and this this reminds me of the

The person who's who's just living in ongoing disobedience Who is constantly?

Looking over his shoulders living in a state of constant fear of paranoia

Waiting for the shoe to drop if you will Kind of reminds me of a story.

I heard years ago. I read years ago About a woman who if I recall it correctly,

I I don't have the story at hand I just kind of remember it a woman. I if I recall correctly had

Murdered her husband and there's something like that and she got away with it and she took off and Left the area went to another part of the country

Completely changed her appearance and all the rest of this kind of stuff and just kind of took up a new identity in a new environment

Got a job she ran into trouble as I recall when the employer kept trying to Get her to give her social security number and she kept forgetting it

Because she she couldn't give her actual social security number. So You know, she ended up quitting a job or something like that.

Anyway after a few years She finally got caught

The authorities caught up with her and when she was arrested she made the remark that I Was afraid that this day would come or I knew this day would come so here it was in in the years between the time of her crime the committing her crime and the

Time that she was apprehended She admitted basically Constantly looking over her shoulder in fear waiting for the shoe to drop and then

I think to of Herod in the New Testament the Herod that beheaded John the Baptist you remember after he did so he hears word about what

Jesus is doing and Herod is so fear filled with fear and paranoia

Because he knows he killed John the Baptist when he was an innocent man and When he hears about Jesus he's greatly troubled

He's greatly afraid and he says this has to be John the Baptist whom I have killed

Who's basically come back to haunt me if you will Well, this is what a life of disobedience does to us.

It causes us to be Living in a state of constant fear in a state of paranoia

That the shoes gonna drop at any moment Constantly looking over our shoulders.

That's no way to live. No way to live what's let's make it our aim and make it our desire and make it our practice to live a life of Obedience to our

God loving obedience to our God because of all that he has done for us

And so our Father and our God I pray that that would be our heart and our desire to obey your word live according to your word and Not have to live in a state of constant fear knowing that we're doing wrong and this we pray in Jesus name.

Amen All right. Well, I hope that encourages you to Keep on keeping on for the