Leviticus 19. Yikes, right? Can’t cut my skin or the hair on the side of my head or tattoo my skin. Gulp.What’s God saying? Well, what WAS he saying when he said it? Essentially, he was saying, “Don’t practice the sorts of things that align you with other gods. Don’t cut your hair like the guys who worship a pagan god by shaping their heads to resemble the celestial globe!” Don’t cut yourself and tattoo yourself – it associates you with those that think it pacifies the gods of the dead.” God is making practical his commandments from Exodus 20 and Lev 19 namely, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Remember when Jesus healed (worked) on the Sabbath? His explanation (paraphrased by me) was, “Hey, the point is to honor God. Is it honoring to God to let a man suffer on the Sabbath, if you can honor God by helping?” God’s direction doesn’t exist just to give us rules to live by. Godly practices and laws are rooted in meaning. When our practices betray God and honor a false god – whatever it is – it should be stopped. Not stopped so I can say, “Wow, look at me I stop stuff!” But instead to say, “God deserves my full devotion, I want to do nothing that dishonors him. Nor will i do anything that honors or is perceived to honor a false god.” What “marks” your life as one that pays honor to Jesus? What “marks” it otherwise?
