While in France...

“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” Lev 19:1.

What do you think of when you hear the command from God to be holy? Honestly, my eyes sort of glaze over and I pass over the word. Telling me to be holy is like telling me to be French. I took French for 3 years in high school from an amazing teacher, but as hard as I tried to learn the language, the culture, and the history I knew I would never be French. I even traveled to France with my teacher and a group from school. I tried my best to ‘be French while in France' but miserably failed. The only way would be for me to have been born into that bloodline. So, the word holy has always seemed out of reach for me until this morning. I learned this morning that the Hebrew word for holy means to be ‘set apart.’ When we view it that way, the call is not to be perfect but to remain faithful to the path that God has set apart for each of us. “As Christ followers, it is not our own goodness or good deeds that make us holy, but rather the work of Christ on the cross” You Were Made for This Moment, Max Lucado, p. 9-10.

In light of this translation, how do we set ourselves apart and attain holiness? We accept and receive the truth that apart from Christ we can never achieve it on our own. We make the decision that we will accept Christ and His work on the cross for us, and receive His invitation to join in His bloodline. We strive to exemplify the character of Christ which is set apart from the culture of this world. Lastly, we recognize that our holiness was assigned and granted to us only through Christ’s sacrifice.

To be holy is to set our decisions and behavior apart from our culture when it contradicts God’s word. To be holy is to set our conversations apart from the foul language, gossiping words, and judgmental accusations when talking with others. To be holy is to set apart times on our busy schedule to be with God and in prayer to God. Holiness is our response to the Godliness of Christ Jesus who swept us into the family of God.

Once we became one in Christ, we became holy and set apart because of what He did, not anything we attained on our own.

The Mist From Within

“For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life...” Genesis 2:5b-7

The story of creation is no doubt at the top of my list of favorite Biblical accounts and every time I read it, I chisel out a new gem. At first glance, our passage above is nothing remarkable or earthshattering until the part about the Lord forming man. But a closer look reveals the faithfulness of our God and how He provides for everything He creates. The ground was created by God and began dusty and dry. It had no means to water itself and no one had been created to tend to its surface. But God already knew the provision the ground would temporarily need before rain was a resource and man was a curator. And so, God provided the moisture. The next creation was man who was void of breath and life. And so, God provided the hands to work the land. God didn’t realize after the fact that the ground would need watering. He created it with that knowledge because He already knew how to provide.

Like you I am sure there are things that dominate your prayers ...cries that impassion your pleas...fears of things not being provided or needs not being met. It is easy to obsess over things that might happen...scenarios that have not yet occurred...worst case predictions that are rooted in no facts. Whatever situation in which we find ourselves today, we aren’t left to our own solutions. God has created our story and is orchestrating every detail and provision we will need every step of the way.

For the unemployed person who is feeling disillusioned, God will provide the resources to meet your needs until He provides the perfect job. For the one whose heart is grieving, God will provide the mercy, comfort, and enduring grace to carry you through the days and nights. For the fearful heart of a situation you are facing, God will provide the answers needed for you to make the right decisions.

If God sent the mist from within the earth to water the ground, how much more has He already anticipated that will be needed for those whom He loves? He fully understands every need that we require in every situation and will always meet those needs. He has been trustworthy from the time of creation and will be faithful through eternity. 

The In Between

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb...Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book.” Psalm 139:13-16. “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world...I leave the world and go to the Father.” John 16:28

I love how the New Testament echoes so much from the Old Testament throughout Scripture. God was so faithful this morning to connect these beautiful spiritual dots as I arrived at my meditation with a heavy heart for one of my best friends. She and her family will celebrate the life of her dad today, and will walk out the reality of our passage this morning. It will be painful on this side of Heaven, but today we fix our eyes on the eternal truth of the joy of him returning Home.

Her dad was created and formed 82 years ago by the very hands of the One who entrusted him to this world. God saw his life rolled out in a beautiful manner before he ever took one breath or lived one day on this earth. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, her dad was given a way back to be with the Father who created him so long ago. Christ explained to his loved ones that He came forth from God into this world, and He would return to God to be with Him forever. But the explanation didn’t make the pain go away for those He would leave behind, but it did fulfil a beautiful promise that we, too, have for our lives.

We have been created with such amazing blessings over the course of our lives. We enjoy the love, laughter, and fellowship of those we call our own. From our parents we learn and grow...from our parents we watch and emulate...from our parents we fully know we are loved and cared for. And yet, what we know in part down here is so much less than what we fully gain in Heaven. In the words and thoughts of Jesus, my friend’s dad lived out his ordained days in faith and purpose. He came from the hands of God but has returned into the arms of God forever. The in-between life he lived so well with his precious family is what makes today so difficult. But just knowing that his Homegoing is a fulfillment of a promise that the Father whispered into his created son 82 years ago, might just make today a little bit easier for his family. I thank God for this man’s life, I thank God for the love he instilled in all, and I thank God for a way back Home with reunions abound.