Be Holy to Your God

(Today's reading - Leviticus 21-25)

Sorry for the gap in posts, I have been traveling and dealing with family business. I have missed the blog time and I hope you have missed me a little :-).

This part of Leviticus deals with rules for priests, the seventh year rest and the year of Jubilee. All interesting topics and worthy of thought. However, Gods' direction for the priests is of particular interest. God had set the Levites apart for service as priests and in particular to offer the sacrifices of the people and live lives totally in service to Him. They did not receive a portion of the promised land. They were not to be occupied with the cares of this world as they were focused on service to God.
Leviticus 21 begins with giving specific instructions to the priests about dos and don'ts for their lives. Rules dealing with appearance, conduct, conduct of their families and who they can marry are given to keep them holy before God. Their actions had the ability to make them unholy and disqualified them from serving before God. As priests, they were expected to be different. Look different, act different, talk different and be different.
So what does that have to do with you? Or me? Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 that we "are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light". The priesthood of the old covenant was a shadow of the the priesthood of the new covenant. You and I, as Christians are priests. John makes this very clear in Revelation 1:5-6. He tells us that "Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father". If we have been washed in His blood and our sins have been forgiven, we are priests serving before a holy God.
As priests, we are expected to live holy lives. We are to talk different, act different, think different, dress different and live differently than those that don't know the LORD. Our Father expects us, just as He did those priests under the old covenant to "be holy to our God". In Colossians 3: 1-17, Paul calls us as Gods' people to live holy lives. He tells us ... "as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love".
As we serve Gods' as priests, may we determine to live lives that are holy unto Him. May we examine our conduct, our appearance, our language, in fact our entire lives and make those changes that need to be made in order to serve before Him.
If you are reading this and are not sure that you have been washed in His blood and you are not sure your sins have been forgiven and that you serve as a priest before God, send me a comment and I will send you a Bible study that will help you on your journey to meet your savior.