Hey everyone, welcome back to the Christians on College Campuses podcast. My name is Hunter Carr, and I am a graduate of Cameron University. It's so good to be back and spend time with you guys in the God's Word. Today we are looking into Leviticus chapter 11. This chapter can be a little confusing because it talks a lot about clean and unclean animals and what the Israelites were allowed to eat. But underneath all those instructions, there's this bigger message. God was basically teaching his people what it was meant to be set apart for him. In this chapter, God gives Israel specific instructions about what animals they could and couldn't eat. These rules were part of the covenant God made with Israel and helped distinguish them from the nations around them. But then we get to one of the most important verses I believe in this chapter. For uh let's see, verse forty-four. For I am the Lord your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. And then verse forty five it says, For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. So you must be holy because I am holy. And there's that word again, holy. And to be holy means to be set apart for God. God wasn't just concerned with what they ate, He was teaching them that belonging to Him should affect the way they lived. And I think that's something for us college students and young adults that something really we need to hear. Because you're making your own decisions, you're choosing your friends, choosing how you spend your time, your money, you're choosing what you watch, what you pursue. And with that freedom comes a question. Are we using our freedom to become more like Jesus? Or are we using it to become more like the world? And Romans twelve is uh Paul wrote, Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. And that's the connection I see between Leviticus eleven and our lives. God causes people to be different, not because we're better than everyone else, but because we belong to him. Now, something important to understand is that Christians today aren't under this Old Testament dietary laws in the same way Israel was. And Jesus actually prayed for his followers in John 17. I am not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. And that I love that. We're not called to escape the world, we're called to live differently in it. So as we wrap up the Leviticus 11, I want to leave you with one question. Does the way I live show that I belong to God? Not just on Sunday, not just at church, but in the classroom, at work, with your friends, in your relationships, and even when nobody else is watching, because your holiness isn't about trying to look perfect, it's about allowing God to shape every part of our lives. Alright, let's pray. Father, we just thank you for your word and for reminding us that you have called us to be holy because you are holy. Help us understand that being set apart doesn't mean thinking we're better than other people. It means we're just living the way that reflects you, Lord. Give every college student, young adult listening today the courage to stand firm when the world is pressuring them to do the exact opposite, to compromise. And Lord, help us make wise choices with our friendships, relationships, time, words, and actions, and most importantly, Lord, help our lives point people toward Jesus. We love you, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
