Set Apart

“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” - Leviticus 19:2

When I hear the word “holy” I tend to translate it to “perfect” and that makes this command feel daunting. God knows us and all our many downfalls - how could He expect so much of us?

Sitting in that mindset too long is overwhelming and will quickly become hopeless. But there’s good news, friend.

My definition is not quite right. Holy actually means set apart, unique, and distinct.

That feels so much more attainable, right?

Specifically, holiness is to be “set apart” for service to God, which we do by imitating God’s character.

“God created man in his own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them.” - Genesis 1:27

God made us to look like Him, and ever since the fall, He’s been working toward complete re-unification with Him. He gave us an entire book to teach us how to look like Him again. And He had a much bigger plan in mind, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

We’ll get there.

This command first comes in Leviticus, the book with all the laws (613 to be exact). So God commands holiness, and then shows the nation Israel how to do it. The problem is that they failed.

Big time.

Like over and over… and over.

And so do we.

They couldn’t resist the cool stuff that all the nations around them had. They didn’t want to be different and set apart. That was a whole lot harder than just blending in.

So even though being set apart from the world sounds so much more attainable than perfection, it’s still not attainable for us.

At least not on our own…

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” - John 14:16-17

The Father gave the law, which was fulfilled by the life of Jesus. Jesus then gave His life, and when He left, gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be holy without having to rely on our own efforts. Instead, we get to rely on Him.

I told you God had a way bigger plan. Cool, right?

If you’ve ever read through Leviticus, you know it is a thorough book. God lays out exactly how the Israelites should and shouldn’t live, how to right their wrongs, and even what to eat and not eat.

But rather than getting caught in the weeds here, let's zoom out to see the bigger picture. God is demonstrating holiness in every part of your life. To imitate, God can’t be isolated to just your morning Bible reading, church on Sunday, and maybe a mid-week service.

The holiness God calls us to is all-consuming. It takes over every part of our lives and permeates everything we do…we just have to let Him.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I am holy.’” - 1 Peter 1:14-16

Holiness is a call to be set apart from evil in all you do. In the garden, Adam and Eve forever changed the course of the world by mingling God’s good creation with evil. Holiness is the command to separate them from sin once again, and be reunited to God.