Take a moment to read Deuteronomy 7 before reading the devotional below.
My first week in high school was overwhelming. I went from a small school where my eighth grade class had nineteen students to a freshman class that had two hundred and seven students. I walked into homeroom and saw students who were richer than me, more athletic than me, and smarter than me. I spent the entire year trying to find a place to fit in at a school where I constantly felt like an outsider. I found myself slowly changing the way I talked, the jokes I made, what I read and what I listened to in order to find a way to fit in.
In Deuteronomy 7, Moses introduces the idea of holiness. Holiness is the opposite of trying to fit in. It literally means “being set apart.” God shows the nation of Israel exactly how extreem they need to be in NOT fitting in. He reminds them that the nations they will be displacing are under God’s judgement. They have spent centuries practicing every kind of evil. So God is going to use Israel to bring justice by putting those nations to death. But there is a second reason those nations must be removed. If Israel allows them to remain, Israel will eventually give into the temptation to try and “fit in.” In this case, however trying to fit in will eventually lead to abandoning God’s kingship over their nation. The loss of God as king will in turn lead to a loss of the blessings that come with God’s leadership.
Sometimes that means removing people from your life. Sometimes it means changing jobs or apartments or neighborhoods. Sometimes it means changing cities or even states. I’ve known several people who had to move hundreds of miles in order to begin a new life of following Jesus. There is incredible joy in feeling released to do whatever it takes to live in freedom. Today, that release has been offered to you. What will you do with it?