"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." (Leviticus 20:26)
OBSERVATION
Our holiness is based on God's holiness. We are to exhibit his characteristics in our lives. We can observe a couple of things about holiness from this verse.
- We are holy to him. It's with a view or direction towards him. He is the source of our motivation to be holy.
- God is holy. He does not ask us to do or become something he is not.
He has set us apart from the nations. Holiness itself means to be set apart, distinct from the world around us. There needs to be a qualitative difference in our lives. - We are his possession. We belong to him. God has loved us enough to call us to be his people. We belong to him. We are not our own. Paul reminds us we were bought with a price.
- We are his own. God wants us in a relationship with him. How do we related to a holy God? By growing in holiness ourselves.
APPLICATION
My motivation for holiness is God himself. I'm only done growing in holiness when I am like him (so far, no good). Life is challenging and the temptations are many. Therefore, my whole life should be on a growth curve, learning to be set apart from the world while living in the world. I'm God's. I was bought with a price. My desire for holiness is also grounded in Christ. His work on the cross and what he has done should motivate me to be holy as he is holy.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to grow in holiness.
