Leviticus 19:1

Leviticus 19:1 says, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.  God told Moses to tell the people of Israel that they were to be holy because He was holy.  They could not be holy by their own merit, but only through their relationship to God, just as we can only be holy by our relationship to Jesus Christ today.  Just as God called on the people of Israel to be holy then, through their relationship with Him, He calls on us to be holy today through our relationship with Him.  Verse three continues, Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.  The people of Israel were to respect their fathers and mothers and to keep God's sabbath, and this has not changed, except we celebrate the Lord's day, or Sunday, instead of the sabbath, or Saturday.  Verse four states, Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.  The people of Israel were not to worship idols or to make any themselves.  We today, as followers of Christ, are not to worship any idols and we certainly are not to make any ourselves.  Verse five adds, And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.  Any peace offering made to God was to be made freely.  When we offer anything to God today, beginning with our life through our faith in Christ, we are to offer it freely.  God does not force people to offer anything to Him.  Verse six continues, It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.  Any of the peace offering given to God was to be consumed in two days at the most, and any that was left over was to be burned.  The peace offerings were to be renewed often.  Verse seven says, And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.  Once the peace offering had been given, then it was under God's rules, and if the people of Israel did not obey His instructions, it would become an abomination to them.  When we come to Christ for salvation or give anything to God as a gift, we are to follow His guidance as to what we do with our life or how we use the gifts that we give to Him.  Verse eight adds, Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.  Anyone who ate of the peace offering after the second day was to be considered guilty of sin and was to be cut off from the people of Israel.  If we try to misuse the things that we give to God today, we may not be cutoff physically from the church, but we will be cutoff spiritually.  Once more, if we have truly accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will not lose our salvation, but we will certainly lose our effectiveness as witnesses for Christ.  Verse nine continues, And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.  When the people reaped their harvest, they were to leave a gleaning.  I believe that today God does not expect us to use up everything that He blesses us with on our self, but that we are us use part of it to help others.  Verse ten states, And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.  The people of Israel were also to not reap every grape from the vine but were to leave some for the poor and the stranger, because God was their God.  God is still God today, and if we are a Christian, then He is our God, and I believe that He still expects the same of us today.  Verse eleven adds, Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.  The people of Israel were not to steal, deal falsely with one another or lie to each other.  This still applies to us today if we are followers of Christ.  Verse twelve continues, And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.  The people of Israel were not to swear falsely by God's name.  If we make a promise in God's name today and do not keep it, we are profaning His name.  Verse thirteen concludes, Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.  They were not to cheat a neighbor nor to keep an person's wages overnight.  We are still not to cheat our neighbor, which would be anyone, although we do not usually pay people every day.