July 11th

What Hinders Holiness

And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine. Leviticus 20:26

There is a lot of talk about budgets these days, and for good reason, but do you understand what a budget is really all about?

A budget, put in different terms, is a way of intentionally setting apart portions of your income for various purposes. I make X number of dollars, and the first portion is set aside for my tithe, one portion goes to pay the house payment, another portion is set apart for the car payment, and on it goes until the bills are paid.

That much of your budget covers your commitments, but what do you do with the rest? How you apportion the rest, the things for which you set it aside, tell me a lot about what your heart loves most.

When we talk in church about holiness, we are talking about being set apart. It means that our life is budgeted for a purpose. We are given resources of time, love, money, and more, and God calls us to be holy-set apart-for His purposes.

But when we spend all these resources chasing after the things of the world-wealth, possessions, prejudices, selfishness, and pride-then we have become holy for ourselves. Or you could say wholly for ourselves, set apart for our own desires and purposes, selfishly building our own little kingdom on this earth that won't last into eternity.

We need to lay these things down and follow God's call to true holiness. Be holy as I am holy, He says, and out of His holiness, He sent His Son to die for wretched sinners. He set aside the rights of His deity-His wealth, His riches, His power, His authority, His Heavenand He came to Earth to save the likes of us.

Holiness is when we do the same thing, when we take whatever we have and we offer it up to God for His purposes, for His calling. It's when we give of what we have to help raise up those in need-the lost, the poor, the orphans and widows, the broken marriages.

Wherever we are rich, let us use that wealth for God's purposes, to build His kingdom. Then we will have treasure in Heaven. Then we will begin to understand what holiness is all about.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for demonstrating Your holiness by coming to earth to save me! I'm sorry for the ways I have been holy just for myself; please forgive me. Help me to be holy as You are holy, setting my life apart for Your purposes.

Amen