Devotional: Reminders for Us

Numbers 15:37-40 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
 "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
 "and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.


I finished the New Testament some time ago and have been working my way through the Old Testament again.
As I have been reading I have been struck again and again by the fact that God's holiness,and justice are the focus.   This is in stark contrast to the New Testament where God's mercy, love and brought more to the surface.  This is not to say that these attributes do not show up in both Old and New Testaments, just that the focus seems to be heavier on these in each section of the Bible.

It is amazing to me how the Old and New Testaments fit perfectly together to make the whole like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  We must know about the law and God's demand for holiness in the Old Testament, or we can not fully appreciate what Christ did on the cross to secure our salvation in the New Testament.  No one can satisfy God's demands for holiness and keep the law perfectly.  Only Christ could do that and He did it on our behalf to save us from the wrath of God against law breakers like you and me.

God told Moses to have the people put tassels on the hems of their garments with the express purpose of reminding them to obey God's commandments and be holy for God.  As Christians, we should desire to be holy and obey God out of a heart full of love for what He has done for us through Christ, not out of fear for what might happen to us if we displease God.  Like the Israelites, we tend to forgetfulness and need reminders.  What can you use as a visual reminder to you to seek to obey God and be holy for him?