APRIL 23 – YOU ALSO!

“And you shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine” (Leviticus 20:26).

God liked His people to be holy, and for this purpose, He commanded people not to eat unclean animals and birds. He also commanded people and not to touch the dead bodies. We see this in the Old Testament. He also cautioned the people that they are not supposed to have any relationship with lepers. Not only that. With the intension that Israelites should live as chosen ones for holiness, He brought in, the system of circumcision among them. He created sacrifices like the sin offering, the trespass offering, burnt offering etc. for them to get rid of their sins and become holy.

Coming to the New Testament, God who insisted upon your holy life, offered Himself as a sacrifice for the purpose. He shed all His blood in Calvary. To wash and make you righteous, He subjected Himself for being squeezed and broken. To cleanse and pull you towards Him, He subjected Himself for tearing of His flesh and endured the sufferings.

He lifted you from the mired clay. The sins which were the slush and mire had got stuck to your soul. He took you to Golgotha in Calvary to wash and there, He poured His blood upon you and washed you from your sins. The Scripture says, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).

You become righteous when the blood of Christ washes you. Paul, the apostle, points out in his epistles, “Called to be saints” (Romans 1:7, I Corinthians 1:2). Let the thought that ‘the call for you is to stay righteous’ be always in your mind. Let the faith that Christ has made you holy with His blood always be in you. Let the hope also be in you that the Holy Spirit will provide you strength, for you to lead a life of holiness.

The Scripture says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2: 19, 20). When you have been built together a magnificent House with God, the apostles, the prophets and the saints, you will remain holy. Dear children of God, let your life be a role-model for others.

To meditate: “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints” (Ephesians 5:3).