WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOLY?

“Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, o Lord, forever.” Psalm 93:5

On the west coast of Michigan there is a special place my family and I call home for one week out of the year. It is our sanctuary. It is a place we look forward to going all year long. Our longing to get back there begins the minute we depart. It is like a magnet, pulling us back. It is a place where we find peace and joy. A place where we build friendships. A place where our daughter gets to meet children from around the country who believe and worship Jesus just like she does.

This place is called Maranatha Bible and Missionary Conference. Here we learn about the mysteries of the Bible. Here, I feel like God prepares me and teaches me how to face the challenges that will come my way. And so, it was, our first year we visited Maranatha that the main speaker spoke on holiness for the entire week. I was captivated. It was something I have heard mentioned during church services, that we are called to be holy. I have always thought that there has to be more. What exactly does it mean to be holy? Many of the preachers failed to explain that. However, God knew the longing of my heart and in His infinite wisdom prepared the perfect teacher to teach me about holiness.

As we read through out the Bible we come across verses where God calls His people to be holy because He is holy. In 1st Peter 1:13-16 it says: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”’

So, what does it mean to be holy? To be holy, means to be set apart.

So, what do we do to set ourselves apart from the world around us? What do we do to be holy? We dress modestly and teach our children to dress modestly. We focus on our appearances. But is that enough? Is that what God means when He commands us to be holy, because He is holy?

In this and following posts I would like for us to study and understand that the call to holiness is so much more than our appearance. It is much deeper than that. Peter tells us to be holy in all our conduct. That means that holiness needs to touch every aspect of our lives. From the way we dress, to the way we speak, to what we read, what we listen to, to what we watch, to what we celebrate, to how we choose our friends, to how we think, etc. Holiness for ourselves and our children is a requirement. Holiness is a Christlikeness, which is the highest description of character. Being holy is an ongoing process, a process we are responsible before God to teach to our children.

Have you ever wondered why is it that God required the children of Israel to utterly destroy everything in the cities they were to conquer? Why did they need to kill every man, woman and child? Why did they need to kill their animals, burn everything they had in their houses? Burn their temples and their altars and their idols? It is because God did not want the Israelites to become corrupt by anything from those nations. Those nations did abominable things and God wanted the Israelites to be holy.

Deuteronomy 14:2 says “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the people who are on the face of the earth.” That goes for us and our children as well. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have become a special treasure to God. When we brought our children to the Lord, they have also become a special treasure to the Lord. What a great honor to know that God considers us a special treasure! And because He considers us a special treasure, He has given us His Son to die for our sins that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Now doesn’t this AMAZING, AWESOME, LOVING, God deserve our honor? Yes, He does. He deserves all honor and glory. He deserves our hearts and our lives. He deserves for us to walk in holiness and to teach our children the same.