Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
- Leviticus 19:10

Why should we practice the discipline of margin that we’ve been exploring this week? Look at the reason that’s given in today’s passage: I am the Lord your God.

God is God and we are not. He commands and we obey. He leads and we follow. He holds out his arms to catch us and we jump. We love and trust him.

Listen, the God that we love and trust has given us this direction. Who are we to ignore it? He’s given us the freedom to follow him or ignore him. We have the option to circle back through our metaphorical vineyards a thousand times and to harvest every grape and raisin. We can live like locusts devouring everything in our sight. But the Lord invites us to live as his children.

The Lord is not just God, he’s our God. We belong to him and, in some mysterious way, he belongs to us. We have a personal relationship with this God. And this relationship motivates us to follow his guidance.

We could obey God because he created everything and ultimately owns everything. We could submit to him because we’ve seen the mighty deeds he’s done in history. Those are all fine, good, and biblical motivations for doing what god tells us to do. But there’s something special about following the Lord because he’s our very own God.

We don’t have another God. He’s our only one. We know him and he know us. Who better than our very own God to guide us into the generous life we long to live?

Spend some time today in listening prayer. Ask the Lord to guide you if there’s an area in your life where you need to keep a wider margin. Ask him to help you take the best next step.