27 February

‘God cannot fit into our plans, we must fit into his,’ writes Eugene Peterson. ‘We can’t use God – God is not a tool or appliance or credit card. Holy is the word that sets God apart and above our attempts to enlist him in our wish-fulfilment fantasies or our utopian schemes for making our mark in the world. Holy means that God is alive on God’s terms, alive in a way that exceeds our experience and imagination. Holy refers to life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.’

The Hebrew word ‘holy’ (qadosh) probably originally meant ‘separate’ or ‘set apart’. It came to be used to describe the ‘otherness’ of God, and how his character and nature are so much greater and more wonderful than any other person or thing. For something else to be ‘holy’ simply means for it to be dedicated to God. You are holy to the extent that your life is devoted to him and your actions reflect his character. Holiness and wholeness are closely related, and God wants the whole of your life.

I love the expression ‘the beauty of the Lord’ (v.4b). The Greek word for ‘beauty’ (kalos) is the word used to describe everything that Jesus did (Mark 7:37). Dostoevsky described Jesus as ‘infinitely beautiful’. Jesus had no outward beauty (Isaiah 53:2–3); he had a different kind of beauty – the beauty of holiness.

The language of Leviticus sounds very strange to our modern ears. The law required that the sacrifice be perfect – ‘without defect’ (1:3). Through the sacrifice, ‘atonement’ was made (v.4). Symbolically, through the laying on of hands on the head of the bulls, goats and lambs (for example 3:2,8) the sin passed to a substitute who would be sacrificed on behalf of human beings. The blood of the sacrifice was extremely important (1:5; 3:2,8,13).

All this can only be understood fully in the light of the New Testament. The writer of Hebrews tells us that ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness’ (Hebrews 9:22). He tells us that the law is a ‘copy’ (v.23) and a ‘shadow’ (10:1). In other words, this is just a foreshadowing and a picture of something far greater and more wonderful.

Holiness starts by putting your faith in what Jesus has done for you and asking his Holy Spirit to come into your life to help you to begin to live a holy life.