Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 11-13.
“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44-45).
This chapter goes into great detail showing the Israelites which animals were clean and which ones were unclean. One of the reasons for these commands was so the Israelites would be a peculiar people, distinct from the nations around them. When God called them out of Egypt, He set them apart as His people. Therefore, they were to be holy just as God is holy.
Peter quotes this passage to show us that Christians today have a responsibility in this regard as well:
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
We are called to the same standard of holiness. That standard is God Himself. Therefore, we must not be like the world, but like the Lord. We must be not be disobedient, but obedient. We must not follow after the lusts of the flesh, but desire and seek after the things above. We must do this, as Peter says, in all of our behavior.
Holiness is not a part-time profession, nor is it accomplished by accident. We must be diligent and serve God with our whole being.
Tomorrow’s reading: Leviticus 14-15
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
