A short lesson on the importance of “holiness”

Let’s start with King David speaking to his son, Shlomo (Solomon) …

1 Chronicles 28: ⁹ “As for you, Shlomo my son, know the God of your father. Serve him wholeheartedly and with desire in your being; for Adonai searches all hearts and understands all the inclinations of people’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever. (CJB)

Later on, in 2 Chronicles, you see why YHWH made King David’s son, Shlomo ,so successful:

In reading 2 Chronicles chapters 1 and 2, it became clear that King Shlomo made things prosper by creating paying jobs, and putting people to work via his love for, and obedience to, YHWH.

2 Chronicles 6: ¹² Then he stood before the altar of Adonai in the presence of the whole community of Isra’el, spread out his hands — ¹³ for Shlomo had made a bronze platform eight-and-three quarters feet long, eight-and-three-quarters feet wide and five-and-a-quarter feet high and had set it up in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on it, then got down on his knees before the whole community, spread out his hands toward heaven, ¹⁴ and said, “Adonai, God of Isra’el, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth. You keep covenant with your servants and show them grace, provided they live in your presence with all their heart. (CJB)

Skipping over to 2 Chronicles 6:24, we see the reiteration of Torah commands where YHWH’s people (which includes YOU, by the way!) are told that if they OBEY Him, all will go well with them:

….²⁴ “If your people Isra’el sin against you and in consequence are defeated by an enemy; then if they turn back to you, acknowledge your name, and pray and make their plea to you in this house, ²⁵ hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Isra’el, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

²⁶ “When they sin against you, and in consequence the sky is shut, so that there is no rain; then if they pray toward this place, acknowledge your name and turn from their sin when you have brought them low; ²⁷ hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Isra’el — since you keep teaching them the good way by which they should live — and send down rain on your land, which you have given your people as their inheritance. (CJB)

Is it ANY wonder that our world is experiencing so much disease, depravity, natural disasters and chaos and confusion today?

NOW, HERE’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

The bottom line is: As you’ve seen in the passages above, being “holy” requires obedience to ADONAI’s Divine Instructions! We can “believe in God” from now until the cows come home; but unless we OBEY His rules, we aren’t really “being holy.”

Please check out the following scriptures (just a few of many) that leave no doubt WHO is in charge and what will happen to you if we refuse to obey! (And remember – YHWH’s commands come from LOVE for His Creation, which He desires to be HOLY enough to join Him in Eternity. He doesn’t force us to obey; He has given us the CHOICE to obey, or not! The stark reality is that there will be NO unholiness in “Heaven”….)

Leviticus 19: 19 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Speak to the entire community of Isra’el; tell them, ‘You people are to be holy because I, Adonai your God, am holy. (CJB)

Leviticus 19: ³⁷ Observe all my regulations and rulings, and do them; I am Adonai.’” (CJB)

Here is Moshe/Moses giving instructions and pleading with Israel to HEAR YHWH’s heart:

Deuteronomy 4: ³⁹ know today, and establish it in your heart, that Adonai is God in heaven above and on earth below — there is no other. ⁴⁰ Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land Adonai your God is giving you forever.” (CJB)

Deuteronomy 5:^{25 (28)} “Adonai heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and Adonai said to me, ‘I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good. ^{26 (29)} Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my mitzvot; so that it would go well with them and their children forever. ^{27 (30)} Go, tell them to return to their tents. ^{28 (31)} But you, stand here by me; and I will tell you all the mitzvot, laws and rulings which you are to teach them, so that they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’

^{29 (32)} “Therefore you are to be careful to do as Adonai your God has ordered you; you are not to deviate either to the right or the left. ^{30 (33)} You are to follow the entire way which Adonai your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess. (CJB)

The question remains: Are YOU “hearing His Heart?”