Holy

Like Joel and Matt, I am working in and through The Message. However, I will be working in the Old Testament (frankly, because like many people, I don't really remember what happens after Exodus - oh, I can still sing the song of the books in order, but ask me what they were each about and I'm lost). So I'll be starting in Leviticus.

Unfortunately, Leviticus has gotten a bad wrap as the first of the "Rule books", but as Peterson puts it in his introduction (yes, I really like the intros), "this holy God is actually present with us and virtually every detail of our lives is affected by the presence of this holy God; nothing in us, our relationships, or environment is left out."

"Holy refers to life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself."

Today, in reading through Leviticus 1-7 (skim it if you'd like, but only read if you want details of how to make different sacrifices properly), I realized again how much I take Christ's sacrifice for granted. The people in this book had to make many different offerings as sacrifices for every wrong they committed.

"If you sin by not stepping up and offering yourself as a witness to something you've heard or seen in cases of wrongdoing, you'll be held responsible."

Or if they touched anything ritually unclean, or committed one of a thousand different acts - they were held accountable and they had to make many offerings to God.

We have it easy. "Father, forgive me." That's it. And many of us group our sins together. "Father, forgive me for...everything I did wrong today." Take a moment to let that sink in. Imagine feeling convicted enough to first of all, tell your sins to others; secondly, to have to give something valuable of yourself up as an offering; and thirdly, to have to do it for every iniquity, regardless of scope.

I'd never get to work. Let alone anything else I had planned.

Today's reading reminds me that I am sinful. We all are. But we have it pretty good spiritually. True, you could argue that if we did have to follow the instruction list of Leviticus for every sin, we might place more weight on our personal holiness...in fact, I agree with you. But in a modern way. Find what you hold to be important in your life and offer it up to God. For me, it is my time.

I have recently been doing some exercises in spiritual meditation. Unfortunately, it was cutting into my regular prayer time. The other day, while reading something by Anthony de Mello I came across a revelation (at least, to me). He said that it is important to have separate time for both prayer (with words) and communion with God (without words). This realization has equated to me setting aside more time in my day (a definite, but needed sacrifice), so that I have individual times for both. This offering is meager, but is a struggle for me. But looking at what others have done reminds me of where my devotion should be.