PROPERLY DEFINING HOLINESS

October 23, 2024

1 Samuel 21:4 (NKJV)
“And the priest answered David and said, ‘There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.’”

One of the biggest lessons we learned from the Old Testament was that there were consecrated and non-consecrated things. God wanted His people to know that not everything was consecrated to the Lord. Holiness was a choice.

That lesson continues all through the New Testament into our present day. We need to know what is holy and what is unholy. For the vigilant pilgrim, our daily walk requires this constant call to separation.

Notice how the priest contrasted “holy bread” with “common bread.” The NLT calls common bread, “regular bread.” What is common and regular is therefore equated as unholy. Consecration, however, translates common into holy.

It means there cannot be holiness unless we offer the ordinary to God to consecrate. Holy bread was simply ordinary bread, set apart for a God-purpose. Can you imagine that? Ordinary is made holy because of purpose.

Our lives are full of ordinary activities. Our call is to take what is regular and lay them at His altar of divine purpose so that our God may translate the mundane into what is holy. God’s will is that all of us are holy, every day.

We are consecrated vessels only when our lives align with His divine purpose. Living life for the sake of living is common and unholy. Living life in step with God and in alignment with God, makes us holy to the Lord. Holiness is being set apart for God.

People think of holiness only in terms of sin-avoidance. But that is a limited definition. Of course, any life that is set apart for God is set apart from practicing sin, but avoiding sin alone does not make you holy. Divine purpose does.

Let’s take our ordinary lives and regular activities and consecrate them daily to the Lord of creation, offering them on His altar of divine purpose. And let God’s holy fires purify them and make them worthy to bear His name. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *