The Holy and the Common

Yearly Reading: Leviticus 8-10

"You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean...." Leviticus 10:10 NRSV

God is the God of order, not chaos. When God created the world, God separated the light and the dark, the night and the day, the earth and the water. God sets apart one thing from the other. That is God's way.

For the Israelites as well as Jews today, there are certain foods and bodily functions that are considered clean and unclean. With Jesus and the new Christians, many of those categories either were taken away or changed somewhat. In today's Western-dominated society, even those lines are blurred.

Yet, God is still the God of order. God still wants the holy separated from the common. God still calls the ordinary to be extraordinary. We must remember that God calls us to be holy or set apart. God wants us to be more than common.

This may be difficult for some of us to grasp. What does it mean to be holy in today's world? How can we be living in the world yet somehow different? What marks you as holy rather than common?

God, you call us to be holy rather than common. What does that mean for us in our daily lives, God? How can we be your holy people? Give us discernment and guidance in being your people each day! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims