Verse of the Day 5/2

Verse of the Day 5/2

Leviticus 19:2 "Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.    English Standard Version (ESV)

In writing Sunday's devotional I thought of but did not post the words of the old hymn "Take Time to be Holy".  The hymn definitely feels old fashioned.  You probably won't hear many sermons these days where the congregation is called to be holy, it might seem to be to "legalistic" for the modern age.  But if we change that word to set part we may have a different thought.  The word holy means to be set apart, dedicated to God.

Isaiah's call in his first chapter was "come, let's argue this out" and make a decision to learn to do good, seek justice, be a defender, an encourager to be set apart to do the Lord's work.  Stop the charade and do something.

Then I went ahead and looked up the hymn and the reference to today's verse.  Like Isaiah, Moses called the people together and challenged them to set themselves apart from the rest of the people, he did so by saying "be holy".  Read the hymn, it still rings true and has a message for us today.

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Wouldn't we all be better off, be better people, better Christians if we'd slow down some, and take some time to set aside for God, to read, to feed and then to act on His Word?  The world rushes on, let's try not to get caught up in or be overwhelmed by the rat race which no one ever wins.  Set yourselves apart.

⁴ "Don't take up with no-god idols. Don't make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.  (v.4 The Message)

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Leviticus 19:1-4The Message (MSG)

"I Am God, Your God"

19 ^1-2 God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy.

³ "Every one of you must respect his mother and father.

"Keep my Sabbaths. I am God, your God.

⁴ "Don't take up with no-god idols. Don't make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.