Leviticus 11:44-45: Be Holy, For I Am Holy

"For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44-45

I read something in a book yesterday that I would like to open up this devotional with. Disclaimer: The following quote is extremely upfront and may be insulting, but it makes a point. The book is called The Purity Principle, and it states this:

"Suppose I said, 'There's a great-looking girl [or guy] down the street. Let's go look through her window and watch her undress, then pose for us naked.' You'd be shocked. You'd think, What a pervert! But suppose instead I said, "Hey, come on over. Let's watch Titanic."

This quote points out for us something very real about our culture, that is, that we often do not guard what comes into our lives. We often do not seek holiness in every area of our lives, especially in the area of entertainment. In other words, we often forsake the command of God to be holy as he is holy.

In Leviticus 11:44-45, we find this great command of God to "be holy, for I [God] am holy." This command is repeated many times in the New Testament (Matt. 5:48, 1 Peter 1:16), but it originates here in Leviticus 11. In fact, this verse proclaims for us the entire point of the book of Leviticus, that is, that all of the extensive and perhaps bizarre laws of God to the Israelites were all of the purpose of this one thing: personal holiness. The God who had redeemed and rescued the Israelites from slavery was a God who was holy (that is, set apart and different from the things of this world), and thus his people were required to be the same. They were not called to be like all of the other nations around them, they were called to be different, to be holy.

Here, we find a great foundation for the laws of Leviticus. As I've said in the past devotional, Leviticus is much more than a bunch of laws the Israelites had to follow that we may or may not have to follow today, but it's not less than that. Let us realize that the purpose of all of these comprehensive and perhaps crazy laws were for all for the point of showing how the Israelites were to be different from the nations around them, whether that was by circumcising themselves, not eating bacon with their eggs in the morning, or anything else. All of God's laws to the Israelites were moral laws, in the sense that they commanded the Israelites to do something in order that they might honor the Lord with their lives in every area, whether it was eating insects, menstruation cycles, or bird sacrifices.

But, you said to me, many of these laws are absolutely crazy, am I supposed to follow all of them as well? Well, we'll get there. The ultimate answer is no, because Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf. However, we must still consider the purpose of these laws, that is, personal holiness, set-apartness, before the Lord. Although the specific application of these laws might not be required of us today, the heart of them still is. In other words, we may not be required to be personally holy to the Lord by laying aside our morning bacon, but we are required to not have among us "even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people" (Eph. 5:3, NIV).

So, are you living a life of holiness in every area of your life, or just in the areas that you are comfortable with surrendering to the Lord? I was listening to a sermon by Paul Washer yesterday, and he spoke of the common criticism concerning the Puritans. If you know any church (or American) history, it is not difficult to find that the Puritans were a bit radical in their pursuit of holiness, but Paul Washer's point was that at least they tried to purify every area of their life, to consecrate all of their lives to the Lord, not just parts of it. Surely we have failed at this as as a "Christian" culture in America. Jesus said himself that "if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away" (Matt. 18:9). So, what is the source of your unholiness? Netflix? Youtube? Going to the gym or the beach? Whatever it is, give it up, and if you think that's extreme, ask yourself: is it worse than gouging out your eye or cutting off your arm? Jesus was radical about the pursuit of holiness; therefore, we probably should be too if we call ourselves his followers.