“You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.” (Leviticus 20:26, NKJV)
We’ve got it all wrong if we see holiness as a dignified, nice and well-mannered thing. It’s not any of those things. Jesus Himself is holy but He kicked over tables in the temple, went to hell for three days to rescue the lost and there is nothing at all dignified about bleeding, being stripped naked, and hanging on a cross.
The key meaning of the word holiness isn’t associated to morality, either. What it truly means is to be set apart. To be holy is to belong to God for His purposes and pleasure. The holy individual can’t be literally disconnected from the world around him, but his heart, mind, body, and spirit belong only to God even as he lives in a world full of sin.
Rev. Joel Scandrett says that “as long as our notions of holiness are limited to doing certain things and not doing other things, we can go through our entire lives… without dealing with the far more fundamental question: To whom do we give our first love and loyalty?”
“Holy” can describe even a person who was saved five minutes ago. This is because we become holy not by swearing off dancing or taking offense when someone curses, but by surrendering ourselves to Jesus totally.
Today, check your definition of holiness then realize that it has nothing to do with how eloquent your prayers are and everything to do with wide open pursuit of Jesus Christ.
Can’t wait to see you Sunday Church!
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