“Speak unto all
the congregation of the children of Israel
How amazing that so much can be said in
so little! In twelve words God describes the foundation and purpose for our
striving for holiness in our walk with Him. Here He is talking to the Children
of Israel, but since we are counted as Abraham’s seed through faith (see
Galatians 3:29), it applies to us as well!
God commands us to be holy, if for no
other reason than because He, our Lord, is holy. There must be something in our
lives that sets us apart from all others. God has chosen holiness. He says this
over and over in the Old Testament, and when He lovingly provided Christ to us
as our way of Salvation, He also provided the Holy Spirit to convict and
teach us in the ways of His holiness.
God created us to be reflections of His
Image. “So God created man in His own
image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” –
Genesis 1:27
When God chose us as His people (John
15:16), not only were we to be reflections of His physical image, but we were
also to be reflections of the glory of His holiness.
“But we all, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” – 2
Corinthians 3:18
What an amazing and humbling
responsibility and privilege we have as God’s children to reflect the wonders
of His Holiness!
“I beseech you
therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.” – Romans 12:1-2
This post made me think about 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all unrighteousness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
ReplyDeleteBTW, I think there's a book on "Holiness" that I have which is a beneficial read . . . ;)
~Amanda
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4