“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 (NIV)
Oh my, Leviticus, why are you in the Bible?
Oh my, Leviticus, with your instructions for the Levite priests,
what to eat, what to wear, who not to sleep with,
what are you saying today?
… Well… there is this.
Cradled in the midst of the 74 things banned, is this verse about being holy.
It’s a gift. But you will need to set aside moral and legal imperatives to hear it.
“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The Holy One is saying, “Listen people. I’m holy.”
“And because you stepped into the circle of relationship, you are holy too!”
Get it? Get the gift?
We are holy too.
Not because of what we do, or don’t do.
Not because of moral greatness or legal achievement.
We are holy because we are gathered in the circle of God’s holiness.
That’s how I hear it. God’s delight.
“Hey, you shall be holy because I’m holy.”
All of life is holy.
What you eat. What you drink.
What you wear. Who you sleep with.
It’s all holy.
And in this holy-ness, there are some best ways to live.
For these Levite priests the instructions were spelled out, in detail.
Go ahead and read them if you like.
But spend more time
being holy now,
in your own town.
Can you hear it, God’s delight, whispering in your heart?
How might you embrace more holy-ness (wholeness) in your daily life?
“Blogging one verse from every book of the bible in 2018.”
Wow! Thanks for this Janice. Reminds me of the song “Everything is Holy Now” which I love.
I like that song too!
Thank you for redeeming the book of Leviticus for me! I feel as though I have stepped into the circle of relationship again, for this day. A holy moment!