“You shall not do as the nations before you… you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations…” (Leviticus 18:26,28).
There’s something about “everybody’s doing it” that makes sin seem less sinful. In the Old Testament, an evil woman named Jezebel married an Israelite king, slaughtered the prophets of God, enforced immoral Baal worship, and introduced child sacrifice. Her name in the Old Testament means “unchaste.”
But when we get to the New Testament, Jesus rebukes a Church for accepting one like her… “You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed to idols” (2:20). This time, if you look up her name, it means “Chaste”. What a change! All that was so reprehensible years earlier is now tolerated.
Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “Father… keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” To sanctify means to “set apart.” It is the same root as the word “holy,” and the word “saint” (holy ones).
Imagine if musical instruments had no standard of tuning – there would be no such thing as good music. What if trades and vocations had no standards? God has given us both the standard of excellence and the power of His Spirit to fulfill it. “Be ye holy, as I am holy” is neither unreasonable nor unloving,” it is the highest standard of living.
Jesus died to make us a holy people – through the power of His Holy Spirit - to prepare us for a Holy City. Is there anything in your heart, life, or home, that you’re tolerating that God cannot bless? Now is the time to "be holy" and prepare for the return of Christ.
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