But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;

for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16

 It all began in the garden, didn’t it? It certainly would have been God’s desire that we be holy as He is. After all He created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27), and holiness is the essence of His being. Makes me wonder how different things could have been.

Fortunately He didn’t give up on us. With the Old Testament sacrificial system He called Israel to consecrate themselves, to set themselves apart from sin. And then He sacrificed His Son to finish the process for us. With the cross, holiness became the calling of the faithful.

Holiness requires time with God, in reverent awe and fear of Him, absorbing His attributes—our quality time not our leftover time.

Kathy Howard shares this story*: one of her teenagers was munching on some candy. When she asked if she could have a little bit, this was the answer, “Oh sure, Mom, you can have all the green ones! I really don’t like that color very much; plus some of them fell on the floor.”

What are you giving God—your green jelly beans; or your fear, your awe, your reverence, your worship?

What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God,

to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God, with all your heart and all your soul? (Deuteronomy 10:12).

Romans 12:1-2 (MSG) puts it this way: Take your everyday life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. …Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Paul’s advice to his friends in Philippi is stellar: work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).

Nancy P

*Kathy Howard, Before His Throne, p.47

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.