You Are Mine
"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine." ~Leviticus 20:26
The words, "to be mine" are so loving and intimate - this is God Himself speaking! It's like the world's first Valentine. Little did the Israelites know what was coming - "eye has not seen nor imagined.."
When I was growing up, I lived in a Jewish community, so on Jewish holidays, my elementary school felt empty. They got to stay home! During Hanukkah, my Jewish friends had 8 days of presents! I remember complaining to my mum, "why can't we be Jewish?" Like the Israelites, I couldn't imagine what was in store for me. It took almost half a century before I realized that in God's eyes, I was part of the true Israel of God. "You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham's descendants. You get all of God's blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham". ~Galatians 3:29
God's holy nation of Israel was a forecast of what was to come. Jesus brought in the new covenant - salvation for the world. Not a system of rules and regulations, but of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Now THAT's a Valentine. He made us HIS. He said, "I bought you out of slavery - I paid the price for you and set you free. You are mine".
Two of my favorite verses are from the Song of Solomon - it depicts this perfectly, I think: "My beloved said to me, "Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me." My beloved is mine, and I am his."
~Song of Solomon 2:10;16
This is as much Jesus speaking to His true Israel as it is to each of us personally. We are holy because of what HE did, not of anything on our own.
Eph 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Amen!
The words, "to be mine" are so loving and intimate - this is God Himself speaking! It's like the world's first Valentine. Little did the Israelites know what was coming - "eye has not seen nor imagined.."
When I was growing up, I lived in a Jewish community, so on Jewish holidays, my elementary school felt empty. They got to stay home! During Hanukkah, my Jewish friends had 8 days of presents! I remember complaining to my mum, "why can't we be Jewish?" Like the Israelites, I couldn't imagine what was in store for me. It took almost half a century before I realized that in God's eyes, I was part of the true Israel of God. "You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham's descendants. You get all of God's blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham". ~Galatians 3:29
God's holy nation of Israel was a forecast of what was to come. Jesus brought in the new covenant - salvation for the world. Not a system of rules and regulations, but of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Now THAT's a Valentine. He made us HIS. He said, "I bought you out of slavery - I paid the price for you and set you free. You are mine".
Two of my favorite verses are from the Song of Solomon - it depicts this perfectly, I think: "My beloved said to me, "Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me." My beloved is mine, and I am his."
~Song of Solomon 2:10;16
This is as much Jesus speaking to His true Israel as it is to each of us personally. We are holy because of what HE did, not of anything on our own.
Eph 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Amen!
Have a blessed day!
Bev
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Bev
🅂🄰🅅🄴 our posts to view later!
🅂🄷🄰🅁🄴 our posts and stories!
Use code ➡️ BLOG45 ⬅️to receive 45% OFF our Christian Jewelry