Holiness

Leviticus 11:44
For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.

As I make my way through the Old Testament preparing for messages on Sundays, I have arrived at Leviticus. Leviticus can be one of the most challenging books in the Bible. Too often we feel a distance between the details of the sacrificial system contained in Leviticus and our contemporary situation. Yet, in the study of Leviticus, we discover a message that cannot be overlooked. Leviticus offers a stark truth that is often dismissed in our world today. God is holy and His expectation is that we are to be holy. For some reason, we seem to feel comfortable dismissing the standard of holiness along with the details of the priestly service of the Levites. We treat the idea of a holy life as obsolete. But, that is a grave mistake. In fact, I believe we can learn a practical lesson from the details contained in Leviticus. No, I am not advocating a return to the sacrificial system of Leviticus. Jesus has provided a sacrifice for sins once and for all. But, I do believe we need to recover the connection between holiness and our daily life. Jesus prayed that we would be “in the world but not of the world”. His prayer reminds us that holiness is not about isolation. It is a way to commune in a sacred relationship with God even while surrounded by an “unholy” world. It is our privilege and calling to reflect God’s holy character on a daily basis. Impossible? Not really. The Apostle Peter reminded the early church that God has given us “everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3).