Today’s Affirmation: The Lord gives me peace, rest and courage.

Today’s Affirmation: The Lord gives me peace, rest and courage.

‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. This promise and the source of this Affirmation come from Leviticus 26:6 (NIV).

Peace, rest and courage. All sound great today and feel right with our spirits. The surrounding verses of the 26th chapter of Leviticus are pretty clear on what it takes to have these things and also the ways to lose them.

 1. Do not make idols. Do you have any?

2. Observe the Sabbath and reverence His sanctuaries? Do you?

3. Follow His laws and obey His commands. How is that working for you?

We do these things and He says He will bless us and protect us. Just do these three things and He said in Leviticus 26:12: I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

BUT, the big BUT comes in 26:14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,…there are consequences.

Where peace, rest and courage are the benefits of following His plan He does share some consequences of choosing our own way. These Old Testament warnings to His people are as follows:

1. Bring sudden terror. Have you felt it?

2. Disease and fever that destroys sight and drains life. Have you experienced it or witnessed it?

3. Defeat by our enemies. What is our progress?

Who of us can always do right by the law? NONE OF US. Thank God He does offer a plan. In 26:40 He says we can confess our sins. We can do that. Yes, Lord I have sinned on all of your covenants, please forgive me. In 26:42 He says He will remember His covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He will remember His promises.

May we confess our shortcomings and seek Him today. Thank Him for His forgiveness and the grace He gave us through His Son Jesus to forgive us our sins so we may find peace, rest and courage. How do you deal with these consequences of the Old Testament and how do those who do not believe view this God? Do you think some things are punishment from an angry God or just the result of a fallen world?

 What are your thoughts on these passages?