Why justice?

Today is the last day for me to read in the book of Numbers and it contained a potent lesson for me.

Numbers 35:34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.

This verse comes at the end of a chapter in which the Israelites were reminded of principles for fair judgment of crime, and it struck me that the main reason to have a fair and equitable justice system was because of God’s presence in the land.  As I watch my own country struggle over the justice system I see the same principle at work.  As God is eliminated from our lives as individuals and as a nation, justice becomes more and more polluted and ineffective.  

Although this is very true, even more importantly for me personally is the potent reminder to me of the need to keep myself clean and undefiled by sin and worldly influences.  God lives in me and His dwelling place should be holy.  Why were the Israelites to be careful not to defile the land where they lived?  For no other reason than because the Lord lived among them!  Why should I keep myself pure?  There may be reasons of physical and/or spiritual health, but they are secondary to the fact that God is in me.