“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV)

 There has always been a call for God’s people to be “holy”. The question that goes alongside that is, “how many of God’s people have bothered to heed the call and do anything about it?”

If we were to draw attention God’s never ending call to be “holy” to those who call themselves Christians – how much response would there be? Does God’s call to be “holy” (i.e., exclusively separated to God) meet with any resonance in your heart?

Part of sub-text in this verse is that Israel should have no association with surrounding pagan religions, in the present and in the future. The same can be said of today. The followers of Jesus Christ, if they are to respond to Jesus’ call to be holy, cannot have any association with pagan religions or practices – however benign they might seem.

At the beginning of the Lent, do we need to take an inventory of our relationship with jesus?

What is your answer the Lord’s call to be “holy”?

What is holding you back – fear of the unknown, fear of others?

What might you want to hold on to from this world, or be fearful of letting go of, that would prevent a wholehearted commitment to the Lord?

Do you actually, want to be “holy” (i.e. closer to the Lord and further away from all that is ungodly in this world?)

Your answer is heard in heaven…. And God will grant your request/

Return to the Lord your God, people of Israel. Your sin has made you stumble and fall. ² Return to the Lord, and let this prayer be your offering to him: “Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.” (Hosea 14:1-2 GNT):

“But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning. ¹³ Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough.”

Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish. (Joel 2:12-13 GNT)

³⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. ³⁵ For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. ³⁶ Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! ³⁷ There is nothing you can give to regain your life. ³⁸ If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”(Mark 8:28 GNT)

³ Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. ⁴ Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. (Ephesians 1:4-5 GNT)

⁷ God did not call us to live in immorality, but in holiness. (1 Thessalonians 4:7 GNT)