Daily Devotions

We turn to the third book of the Old Testament, Leviticus, that could well have the strap line - “Get right with God”. Leviticus could be described as a manual of regulations enabling the holy King to set up his earthly throne among the people of his kingdom. It explains how they are to be his holy people and to worship him in a holy manner. Holiness in this sense means to be separated from sin and set apart exclusively to the Lord for his purpose and for his glory. So the key thought of the book is holiness.

This permeating theme is found in Leviticus 19:1-2, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” The term “holy” is used about 150 times in this book. It calls for a holiness that is based in the nature of God. 

Holiness sounds scary. It doesn’t need to be, but to the average person it is. Our tendency is to say that holiness is something for the cloistered halls of a monastery. It needs organ music, long prayers, and religious-sounding chants. It hardly seems appropriate for those in the real world of this century. What words come to mind when you think of holiness? It’s almost as though holiness is the private way of life for a special group of monks, missionaries and martyrs. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

For the disciple of Jesus, there is another way of framing this holiness; to define it as Social holiness; the practice of obeying Jesus’ commandments to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, loving your neighbour as yourself, and loving one another one another as Christ loves.

When Wesley said that holiness is social he meant that the depth of our love for God is revealed by the way we love whom God loves. Perhaps Jerry Bridges has it spot on when he says, “Many Christians have what we might call a 'cultural holiness.' They adapt to the character and behaviour pattern of Christians around them...But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.”

Heavenly Father, thank You for the lessons that Your Church can learn through the history of Israel and for the many types and pictures of Jesus that are hidden within the sacred pages of Scripture. Thank You that like Israel, I have also been called to be holy, because You are holy. It is humbling to realise that as part of Christ's Body, we have also been chosen, in Him, to be kings and priests unto God - to be a chosen people, who tell the world that Jesus died for their sin and rose again, so that by faith in Him we may be holy, as He is holy. Thank You that by faith in Christ, I have been called to be Your very own, and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of Him Who called me out of darkness into His marvellous light. May I live and work from this day forward, to be more like Jesus, and to live a holy life that is separated from this fallen world system. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.