The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 11:44-45,
"I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy."
In this chapter we read of the diet the Lord required of his people Israel. He sums up the various regulations by telling them the importance of them was for holiness. I note the Lord did not say healthiness but holiness. I'm not saying there were no health benefits from the diet the Lord prescribed for them, but the primary purpose was for his people to live their lives in a holy manner. He tells them to be holy because he himself is holy.
In this chapter we see that the Lord asked his people to make themselves holy by following his dietary restrictions. The people were to make themselves holy. What would make them holy by adhering to the diet the Lord gave them was due to precisely that the Lord gave it to them! To reject what the Lord told them to do would have been to reject the Lord himself as their God.
Today we understand that the Lord makes believers holy. In giving instructions to husbands, Paul says in Ephesians 5:25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
In Colossians 1:21-22 we read, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..."
The writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus Christ is the one who makes believers holy, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." Hebrews 2:11. In reference to Jesus Christ he also says, "Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first [which includes sacrifices and offerings] to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Also in verse 14 we read, "For by one sacrifice he [Jesus Christ] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
In Hebrews 13:11-12 we read, "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood."
"I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy."
In this chapter we read of the diet the Lord required of his people Israel. He sums up the various regulations by telling them the importance of them was for holiness. I note the Lord did not say healthiness but holiness. I'm not saying there were no health benefits from the diet the Lord prescribed for them, but the primary purpose was for his people to live their lives in a holy manner. He tells them to be holy because he himself is holy.
In this chapter we see that the Lord asked his people to make themselves holy by following his dietary restrictions. The people were to make themselves holy. What would make them holy by adhering to the diet the Lord gave them was due to precisely that the Lord gave it to them! To reject what the Lord told them to do would have been to reject the Lord himself as their God.
Today we understand that the Lord makes believers holy. In giving instructions to husbands, Paul says in Ephesians 5:25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
In Colossians 1:21-22 we read, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..."
The writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus Christ is the one who makes believers holy, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters." Hebrews 2:11. In reference to Jesus Christ he also says, "Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first [which includes sacrifices and offerings] to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Also in verse 14 we read, "For by one sacrifice he [Jesus Christ] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
In Hebrews 13:11-12 we read, "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood."
Embracing Jesus Christ in faith is how we are made holy today!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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