A Call to Holiness

Leviticus 19:2b,30 "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy...You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord."

How do we reverence God's sanctuary and His presence? By consecrating ourselves and walking in holiness. When we walk in sin and rebellion to God's commands, we are showing a lack of reverence for God's presence in our lives. To reverence someone is to honor them and treat them with respect. How can we say we reverence God if we there are sins in our lives we are not willing to repent of? To repent is not just to say "I'm sorry." It means to have a change of heart and a change of direction.

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Corinthians 3:16,17) We are the temple and sanctuary of God. When we sin, we allow God's temple to be defiled and we open the door for the enemy to bring destruction in our lives.


"...Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” (Joshua 7:13b)
I believe that the church has become ineffective against the kingdom of darkness because we are not walking in holiness. We have not separated ourselves from the world and have compromised, lowering the standard of holiness that God has commanded us to walk in. If we want to see the power of God in our lives, then we must consecrate ourselves--laying aside the sin that entangles us.

God is calling us to holiness in every area of our life. He wants us to be holy in our thoughts, our conversation, our relationships, and our finances. We cannot compartmentalize God's holiness. God wants to sanctify every area of our lives.

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23) God desires that we be holy in spirit, soul, and body. When we received Jesus as our Saviour, He purified our spirit and made it holy unto Him. Now He wants to do the same in our soul (mind, will, and emotions), and our body. I like the latter part of this scripture which says, "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." It is God who works in us--giving us the ability to walk into His holiness. As we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we will be transformed into His image and likeness. We will become holy even as He is holy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) Lord, purify our hearts so that we might see You. Put within us the heart of David--a heart after Yours, that we would desire Your presence in our lives above everything else. Let us be willing to pay the price for Your presence. Holy Spirit, speak to our hearts and help us to acknowledge the sin in our lives. Search us and know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.