The Holy and the Common

Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Ezekiel 42:8 When they placed their threshold beside my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed; therefore I have consumed them in my anger.

Ezekiel 44:23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

There is a separation between God and sin, between God and those who sin. We who are saved by faith through grace are well served to remember this and to maintain a reverent fear of the Lord God. We must know, recognize and respect the difference between the common (us) and the holy (Him).

The relationship between God and his human creation has been a rocky one. My relationship with the Lord has also been like that. I have either been so successful that I didn't need Him(Thanks, but I've got it God) or so guilty and humiliated that I dared not approach Him (Please don't look at me). On more than one occasion, when I was sufficiently humbled, He has approached me and offered me grace that I could never have worked up the nerve to ask for. He wants to be my God. He wants to lead me through eternity. He wants to be known by me. He is willing to sacrifice Himself and justice so that I can hold my head high and follow in his ways. That doesn't make us buddies though. The above scripture from Ezekiel 43 tells of one occasion when His people became too comfortable with the Holy God Almighty and began to treat His temple as there home. The line was blurred and the holy became common. They forgot who and what they were dealing with. We can't afford to make this same mistake in our walk with Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, God of gods and King of kings. His love for us doesn't make any of that less true. There must always be a tension between our love for and our reverent fear of Him. As with all things, He will guide us in this relationship if we ask Him with humility. He is our God, we are His people. So be it.

Dear Lord, please help me to remember who and what I am; a fallen and sinful man. Thank you for the grace and love you have shown me. You have lifted me up and made me an heir to the life everlasting. May my love for you ever grow and my awe of you never diminish. Amen.