Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sets you apart. Leviticus 20:7-8 CSB

You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine. Leviticus 20:26 CSB

I am reading this week in the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites have left Egypt by walking through the Red Sea with Moses and camped at Mt. Sinai where they receive the 10 commandments. Can you name some of them? Do you know which one comes with a promise of long life? Ask your parents to help you look it up.

Our verses for today come from the next book in the Bible, Leviticus. In this book God is giving Moses and the Israelites more rules for living well. These are God’s instructions are how to be holy because God is holy.

Let’s look at an example. A bully at your school is making fun of a younger child. The other kids around are joining in the teasing (maybe because they are worried about being bullied, too). But instead of joining in, you stand apart and get a teacher to help. You help the bullied child and stop the teasing. God would look at you as being holy. You are “loving your neighbor!”

Holy doesn’t mean perfect. Holy means to be set apart from the world and dedicated to God. Doing the things that Jesus would do. When we become Christians, we are set apart to worship and serve our God and His Son, Jesus. The other word in our verses today is consecrate. The Lord is telling the people, and us, that we are God’s sacred children, precious in His sight and devoted to Him.

This week I want you to talk to your parents about being holy for God. What kinds of things do you think you should do (or not do) to be holy? Remember the ten commandments? What else can you do that would please God? Make a short list to help you remember to be holy because our God is holy.

Blessings and joy as God’s sacred child who is holy!