Leviticus 20:7-8;22-24 and 26 - " 'Consecrate yourselves
and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep
my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you
holy……… " 'Keep all my
decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according
to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out
before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred
them. But I said to you, "You will possess
their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk
and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has set you
apart from the nations……….. 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.
The Lord repeated many of the rules he had
already given to Moses…and then he tagged on some of the punishments that would
result when they were broken. God knew what they would encounter in the land
that he was sending them…people were burning their children to a God named
Molech…being intimate with anyone they so pleased…even animals…and God found it
all detestable. He wanted Moses to tell
them that he had set them apart…and wanted them to be different...even holy.
The word holy seems so out of reach for me…..for
I know that I am truly not….anywhere close to achieving true holiness. I will
never be a God …or divine in any sense of the word. I am not worthy to be
revered by anyone…I feel like the Centurion who wanted his servant healed in
Matthew 8:8….or John the Baptist in John 1:27…when Jesus sought him to be
baptized…or even Jacob….as he pronounced his unworthiness in Genesis 32. I see
my past sins…even though they are forgiven…. the vision and memory of what I
did…blocks me from accepting that I could ever truly be holy to God.
But if we look closely at the definition of
holiness….it also says that we only have to belong to a divine power….be made for
it…merely associated with the sacredness of God. If we love him…and
consider ourselves made for his purpose…we were created to be holy…..set apart
to him for his service. And because we
sought him….and believed in him like the centurion…..like John the Baptist….like
Jacob…..we finally understand that we can strive to be holy…because we follow
his rules.
I am also reminded that the penalty for many of the behaviors
listed in this chapter was death….or complete separation form God and his
people. And since Jesus paid that death penalty for us….the stoning…putting too
death of ….the or excommunication…. doesn’t take place immediately like
then. But choosing not to revere God…and
keep his laws….all of them…will eventually separate us from his love… and we
will die without him owithout his forgiveness and mercy.
Father…help me to understand that I can be holy to you. Help me to place your laws in my heart…so
that they become who I am…and not just a rule to follow. Help me to be obedient to all that you ask me
to do. Replace my feelings of unworthiness with your powerful love that brings
confidence and power to complete the task you sent me here to do. Place in my
heart your holiness….and allow me to worship and love you for all that you do
to bless me…even in my many sins. Forgive me for every rule that I have broken….and
show me how to make it right. Amen.
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