Just Love?

Ask anyone about a characteristic of God and probably the first that will come up is “love”. God is love. Most people cling onto this concept and assume that a loving God would never punish us. He loves us too much to send us to Hell; it will all be pushed under the rug. But let’s think about His holiness. He is so holy that the angels just cry out, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY”, over and over and over. Day and night the word “holy” flows out of their mouths and echoes in the throne room. Why? Because they are completely awestruck by His total purity. Lately, I haven’t been able to get away from this concept.

God calls us to be holy like He is holy.

“Be ye holy for I AM HOLY.” I am amazed by this command. His holiness inspires fear and awe. Does He do that to us? Or are we so caught up in making our Lord an easygoing, approachable friend that we bring Him down to our level? So often God is treated more like a buddy than our sovereign, all-powerful King. In Jeremiah it says “But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” The earth quakes and the nations crumble under God’s wrath. That sounds pretty awe-inspiring! He holds all power, might, and control, and yet here we are: we talk to Him on our own terms, we want Him to give us what we want, and we decide how much of our life He can have some control over.
But then there’s that command, “Be ye holy for I AM HOLY.” What does that mean for us? To be holy means to be separate and pure. Are we like our Father in this way? Do we flee from sin and seek justice? Honestly, as I consider this for myself I believe that if I remember my God’s complete holiness it will inspire a right heart in me. It’s not a set of rules someone made up. It’s truly knowing the heart of our Holy Creator and desiring to please Him. It’s no longer the question “What can I get away with?” but instead, “how Holy is my God?”.