Be Holy!

In my 58 years of preaching I have attempted to teach every book of the Bible. The one that gave me the most trouble was Leviticus. I attempted to teach it one time and arrived at the 16th chapter and the time came for me to move to a new congregation. I am sorry  to say I never tried it again.
   
If you have ever waded through the book you can’t help but wonder why God gave us so many detailed instructions about cleansing and ceremonial purity. Why are there so many explicit directions about sacrifices. That being the case are we forced to conclude that we have a book in the Bible that the relevance to modern believers cannot be understood. I think sometimes we need to view some books in terms of what their overall message is about.
   
In the case of Leviticus the message can be summed up with Lev. 19:2, “Speak to all the people of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” If God is Holy, holiness is not an option for those who belong to Him. Holiness is not merely for a few select, pious saints. It is for students who are constantly bombarded  and pressured into conformity with the world and its decadence. It is for lonely widows, divorcees, and singles to stay sexually pure. Holiness is for husbands and wives struggling with bitterness toward a difficult mate. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” In other words, “be ye holy, for I am holy.”