God wants His people to be set apart, special, distinct from those around them. Moses says to the Israelites, "You are children of the Lord your God...For you are a people holy to the Lord your God" (vs. 1-2). Deuteronomy 14 lists several of the ways that Israel is to be different.
For one thing, the Jews are not to lacerate themselves or shave their heads in their grief for the dead (vs. 1). Although a common cultural custom in the nations around them, God forbids His people from cutting their bodies as if to fixate on the dead and do injury to themselves.
Secondly, to be a Jew is to observe a special diet (vs. 3). Today we call it kosher. There is a long list of "unclean animals" that observant Jews are forbidden to eat. This separates them from the Gentile nations around them and makes them different. Rules against such things as eating pork or lobster is one of the things that make the Israelites distinct.
Finally, God wants their worship and generosity to be evident. By their practice of the tithe and their times of national worship, the Jews center their lives around God and demonstrate their obedience by returning the 1/10th portion to Him. Also important in the area of giving is remembering the Levites, widows and orphans (vs. 29).
What is it that makes Christians distinct today? What is different about you because you belong to God?
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