Picture this: You walk in to church on a Sunday morning. Your outfit is a perfect blend of fashion and function, featuring a pair of distressed jeans. An older gentleman approaches you and says, “did you wear those pants to church today because they are holy?” He laughs and makes a comment about paying for jeans with holes in them before leaving.
But what does it actually mean to for something or someone to be holy?
First, holiness is an inherent attribute of God himself. God being holy means that he is unlike anything else - completely unique. Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 tell us that the angelic beings around God’s throne are constantly proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God Almighty.” This is the only characteristic of God that is repeated 3 times. In Hebrew, repeating something 3 times shows that it is the utmost degree - God is the holiest of all.
God’s presence can make something holy. For example, when God appears as a burning bush in Exodus 3, God tells Moses that the place where he is standing is holy ground. The middle of the tabernacle, where God was considered to dwell, was called the Holy of Holies.
People or things that are dedicated for divine or sacred use are considered holy. People who served in the temple and anything used in temple ceremonies were holy.
Finally, God calls us to be holy. Leviticus 19:2 and 1 Peter 1:15 both say that since God is holy, we should also be holy. For us to be holy means that we are “set apart” for divine use and different/separate from the world. The process of becoming more holy (more like Jesus and less like the world) is called sanctification.
God is majestic in holiness (Exodus 15:11) and it is the essence of who he is. We receive holiness through Christ’s redepmtion and the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. We are commissioned to be holy for divine use. We are commanded to grow in holiness out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
What can you do today to become less like the world and more like God? Are you willing to let God use you for sacred purposes?
LORD, you are holy, holy, holy. Thank you for being completely unique and perfect. Please empower me through the Holy Spirit to become holier each and every day. Help me to put away worldliness and embrace who you have called me to be. I submit myself to be used by you for your Kingdom. Amen.