“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” – Leviticus 20:26

This is the essential principle at the root of most Old Testament Law. God is profoundly, perfectly holy. He is apart from ordinary things and separated from sinful creation. There is no hint or shadow of sin in Him. He chose Israel to be His people and because He is holy, they must be holy. They must avoid sin, both public and private. And they must do things that make them distinctly different from their pagan neighbors. Some of the stranger-seeming laws of the Old Covenant are rooted in helping a newly formed people keep themselves distinctly different from their neighbors. Why? So they won’t imitate the sinful actions or worship the false gods revered by their neighbors.

Why does any of that matter today? If you’re a Christian, you aren’t under the Old Covenant, you’re under God’s New Covenant of grace. Praise Jesus for that! But guess what? We’re also commanded to be holy. The New Testament repeatedly commands us to reject sin, crucify temptation in our hearts, and imitate Jesus. We’re commanded to be part of the world and yet fundamentally set apart from its sinful elements and practices. We are supposed to be different because God’s Spirit lives within us.

If Jesus is your Lord, then you must be holy. Why? Because your Lord is holy and you are His temple! Jesus has made you His own, buying your freedom from sin and death at the cost of His own life. You are to be distinctly different from unbelieving neighbors, relatives, and coworkers. You are to desire the things of God, love the people of God, obey the Word of God, and think, speak, and act like Jesus. That’s what it is to be holy in the New Covenant. Be holy because your Lord and Savior is holy! #FollowJesus

“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.”
– Psalm 31:9

King David teaches us to be completely honest with God. He isn’t afraid to tell God when he is upset, discouraged, sad, sorrowful, depressed, or afraid. He pours out his heart to God but always does so in a way that honors God. No matter what strong emotions David expresses to God, he always circles back to his faith and trust in the Lord. He knows that however much emotional pain he may be enduring, God is present, God is faithful, God is listening, and God is good. David sometimes struggles with God’s timing but never doubts that God’s timing is perfect.

Let the psalms guide you into a deeper, more open relationship with God. Many Christians imagine they should only express happy thoughts to God but that simply isn’t true. When we wear masks around God it artificially constrains our spiritual life. It keeps our prayer conversations at a very superficial level. Don’t let that happen to you!

God already knows your heart, so don’t worry about being honest with Him. Tell Him of your struggles, sorrows, and agonies. Speak to Him day and night. Imitate David by doing this in faith. Trust and say that God is good. Trust and say that He is for you (after all, He sacrificed His Son to rescue you). Trust and say that He is with you. Trust and say that He will never leave or forsake you in struggles. #FollowJesus

“Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” – Mark 13:36-37

Followers of Jesus must be serious about doing our Lord’s work! He’s promised He’ll return and made clear that when He does, it will be without advance notice. There will be signs, but those honestly describe our daily headlines: wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, and great evil at work in the world. Jesus could return today or thousands of years from now. Either way, we’re commanded to be awake, alert, and active.

When Jesus returns, will He find that His followers have been faithful? Will He be pleased about how we’ve used our time on Earth? Will He be pleased with how you’ve used your time? Our Lord gave us an assignment, commanded us to make disciples for Him from every ethnic group and nation. We are to go throughout the entire world, introducing people to Him, welcoming new believers into the faith with baptism, and teaching those believers to obey Jesus and make disciples as well. This is the fundamental task of every Christian and of the church as a whole.

Across the past twenty centuries, there have been times when Christians have obeyed our Master well. There have also been times when the church was clearly asleep. What would Jesus find if He returned today? Are you awake and active for Him? Or is it time to wake up, remind yourself that your life is not your own, and invest your time, talent, and treasure in building Christ’s Kingdom rather than your own? #FollowJesus

“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.” – Mark 13:9

Does this describe your life? Probably not if you live in the Western world. If it doesn’t describe you, give thanks for the relative peace, comfort, and freedom you enjoy to worship God. It’s very appropriate to be thankful for that because it isn’t the norm throughout the history of the world. After giving thanks, take time to reflect. What if these words of Jesus did suddenly describe your life? Are you prepared to endure it? Are you prepared to bear witness to Jesus when doing so is costly?

Jesus spoke these words to His immediate disciples and they certainly experienced all these things. However, Scripture is clear that these things may come to describe the life of any Christian at any time. We celebrate the eventual, ultimate triumph of King Jesus over every enemy but must recognize the repeated biblical warnings about persecution that will occur before that triumph happens. Are you ready for it? Really?

Across 20 centuries, many Christians have had this opportunity to bear witness to Jesus through persecution. Sadly, many who failed the test when it came, preferring comfort, safety, and peace over faithfully bearing witness to their Savior Who died for them. In general, those who use their persecution to God’s glory are those who were already walking closely with Jesus. They are also those spiritually prepared to pay a cost for their faith, who are unsurprised when persecution comes to them. Are you prepared to pay the price if necessary? Do you believe it’s possible? Do you have enough gratitude for your salvation? Are you walking closely enough with Jesus to withstand fear, temptation, and hardship? What should you be doing to walk more closely?

Are you ready to #FollowJesus even in hard times?

“‘David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?’ And the great throng heard him gladly.” – Mark 12:37

Jesus presents the crowd with what sounded like a riddle. What does it mean that the great King David, writing a thousand years earlier, described Messiah, the Christ Who was to come, as his Lord? If the Messiah was merely a descendant of David in the usual earthly sense, how or why could David speak of Messiah as already ruling over him? As already existing and in communication with God?

What Jesus was trying to help the crowd understand is that He, Jesus, has existed eternally. To a crowd looking for the Messiah to be born from the bloodline of David, Jesus emphasizes that the Messiah was vastly greater than they could possibly imagine. Yes, Messiah would be born from the line of David, but Messiah has also existed eternally.

No earthly king was ever like that. But Jesus was. As He began to carefully reveal to the crowds, He existed before time began. He knew their ancient ancestors – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was present at Creation and it all happened through Him. He sustained (and sustains) creation. He is the Lord to whom King David bowed. Now, He was the eternal Son of God come to earth in the flesh.

The crowd wasn’t ready to hear or understand this. But we must! Never make the mistake of merely thinking of Jesus as a great man, mighty king, wise prophet, or extraordinary leader. Jesus is eternal, one with the Great I Am. He is holy, righteous, and God Almighty. #FollowJesus