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| Volume 24 Number 10 October 2022 |
Page 9 |
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| Volume 24 Number 10 October 2022 |
Page 9 |
Be Holy, for I Am Holy
David Myers
“…Be holy, for I am holy” (l Peter 1:16 ) and “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…” (Leviticus 11:44) are two commands by God that are very difficult to obey. Yet, there they are in God’s Word. The question by many who read such passages is this, “But how can I be holy like God?” The Bible tells me that the reason why I must trust and obey Christ is because I’m not holy. “All have sinned,” Paul wrote in Romans 3:23. So, how can I ever think about being holy as God is?
One of many ways to pursue being holy as God is holy is to notice the list that Jesus offered in Matthew 5. To be a holy person, living a kingdom style kind of life, will result in having a blessed and happy life. Both go hand in hand.
Walk each day in these steps and you will perfect your walk with God and be closer to Him in holiness and happiness.
Naomi
Thomas Baxley
The account of Ruth is a great one. It demonstrates God’s providence, His care and concern for all nations (not just Israel). Further, it teaches the value of hard work and many other great lessons, both theological and practical.
Most lessons based out of Ruth focus on her, and rightly so. She is the main character and heroine of the biblical record. For this lesson I want to briefly contemplate what kind of woman and mother Naomi was. As the book of Ruth begins, she and her husband had journeyed to Moab because of a famine in Canaan. Their two sons selected wives from among the Moabites.
Later, all three of the men died. Subsequently, Naomi encouraged her daughters-in-law to return to their families. What I find very interesting is that both expressed a desire to stay with Naomi (Ruth 1:10). There are many details we don’t have, but what we know is that Naomi was the kind of person and the kind of mother people wanted to have and to be around. It is because of this that we have the book of Ruth.