"Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored." Aaron remained silent."
Leviticus 10:3 (NIV)
Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD God Almighty! Blessed are those who are His holy people, who are His possession, for they have been given a privilege and a blessing out of all the peoples of the earth.
If God was not holy, what a terrible world it would be. God’s holiness, his ‘other than human-ess’, is the only good thing in this world, and it is to be praised and His holy Name to be lifted high for all of creation to praise. He is holy and His people will be a holy nation. He forgives our sins and cleanses us and He wields the rod of discipline and beats the sin nature out of us. There are friends of mine who talk about God hitting them with a 2 X 4, but I must tell you that my experience with the discipline of my Lord has not been brutal, but gentle and loving. He speaks and speaks and then corrects and corrects. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.” (Matt 12)
Our Lord is gentle at heart and bears our burdens. He took our stripes, and the phrase that human parents use: “This hurts me more then you” is only true in the Lord’s case, for the punishment for my sin hurt Him more than it hurt me.
We are the light of the world, we are the lamp-stand on which the light is placed and therefore we must be holy! We told Him we would honour Him and therefore we must be holy! We desire to be with Him forever, and therefore we must be holy! The best thing for us, for our loved ones, for our church and for our community, is that we would be holy.
May we willingly submit to our loving, Holy, Heavenly Father, and may we remember this encouragement from Hebrews 12: "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."
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