Holiness. What does that even mean?
To some, holiness means abstaining from intoxicants, not listening to Rock and Roll music, staying off nasty websites, and spending lots of time in church meetings.
So, we grit our teeth and try our best to live holy lives. But we never really feel holy. Why? Because maybe we’ve completely missed the point. Maybe holiness is not totally about what we do or what we don’t do. Maybe holiness is much deeper than external disciplined behavior.
While reading Leviticus on my recent Manila to Tokyo flight, I kept running into this phrase:
“I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 21:23)
This concept is all over Leviticus, more times than I cared to count. After reading “I am the Lord who makes you holy” over and over and over and over—I think I finally got the point.
– We can’t make ourselves holy, only God can make us holy.
– We are holy because of what he does for us, not because of what we do for him.
– Holiness comes from God to people, not from people to God.
In your quest to live holy, don’t forget the simple fact that he is the Lord, and he makes you holy. You are not the Lord, and you can’t make yourself holy.
