Holy

“Your way, O God, is holy; what god is great like our God.” Psalm 77:13

Holy – What do you think of when you picture the word “holy”?  Do you think of massive cathedrals?  Quiet chapels?  Beautiful crosses?  Or someone in prayer?   Maybe your mind brings up less physical ideas.  You might think of purity, consecration or dedication.  But what does it mean to say that God is holy?

The Psalmist draws a connection that we might not see.  He says that holiness is seen in God’s ways.  Holiness is not a place or an intellectual concept.  It is behavior.  It is what God does.  Now that is amazing!  God does a lot of things.  He creates.  He controls.  He gives.  He loves.  He sacrifices.  He judges.  And everything that God does is holy.  The scope of this word might be too much to grasp unless we understand the one essential characteristic that covers all this action.

The Hebrew word qodesh is a word that grows out of religious ritual.  It means, “to be set apart for sacred use.”  Almost anything can be set apart for sacred use.  A cup.  A piece of bread.  A book.  A cross.  We are familiar with these.  But what about my car, my job, my money, my house.  A friend of mine was talking about the Bible study that meets in his home.  He opened his house to us even when none of his family was at home.  He said, “Well, it’s not my house.  It’s God’s house.  So why shouldn’t God’s people be able to come to God’s house.”  That’s holiness.  Setting apart for sacred use.  Taking deliberate action to put it into service for God.

Open your purse or your wallet.  Are the things in there holy?  Have they been set aside for God’s use.  What about the things in your closet or your pantry?  Are they consecrated for His purposes?  How about your relationships?  Is it your spouse or God’s?  Or are you still operating on the “what’s mine – what’s His” fallacy of life?

God gives us everything in order that we can have the opportunity to turn it all into holy actions for Him.  The only thing unholy in my life is what I try to keep for myself.  Have you set all that you have apart for God’s use?

Today:  I will take one thing I have considered mine and make it holy by giving it back to God for His use only.