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.