Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: The Lord Who Sanctifies & Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord Who Is Peace

DAY 6          WRITTEN BY: CASEY McCONNELL

• READ

  Leviticus 20:7-8

  Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.

  Judges 6:24

  So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.

• REFLECT

  From the beginning of creation, God’s desire for His people has been for us to have intimate fellowship with Him. In order to share relationship with a righteous God, we must share in His holiness (Leviticus 19:2). Throughout the book of Leviticus, we see God giving statues that will set the Israelites apart. God knew Israel would be tempted by the fallen world around them, so he lovingly lays the foundation for what is good and what is holy.

  While it may seem like God is giving Israel a list of “dos and don’ts,” these commands aren’t self-depriving boxes that believers are simply meant to check. God certainly wants us to recognize sin, our propensity to it, and how that separates us from Him, but His solution to our sin problem is not one of self-rescue. Self-denial and self-reformation do not have the capacity to fully eradicate the fallen nature that exists within our hearts. God wants us to pursue holiness not by striving for it, but by exchanging our self-sufficiency for greater Spirit-dependency. It is God, Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, who does this sanctifying work in us. What Grace that God is not satisfied with us simply knowing His holy character. He does a redeeming work inside us so we can experience it for ourselves and so that we might be the image-bearers of Christ to those around us.

  If it weren’t for the intervention of our faithful redeemer, the battle against sin and self is sure to be lost. Like Gideon, when we consider our inadequacy apart from God, we find ourselves lacking the courage to charge mightily into the fight. Gideon brought an offering to the angel of the Lord and asked Him to prove that God was with him before leading the Israelites in battle, but God has given us even greater assurance than an offering consumed by fire. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, empowering us, and delivering us. And as God does, we are not only victorious, but we become the beneficiaries of His righteousness and His peace.

• RESPOND

  Heavenly Father, thank you for the relationship I am privileged to have with You because of Jesus. Help me to desire Your holiness today. Give me ears to hear Your instruction, a softened heart in Your conviction, and an attitude of surrender as You do a sanctifying work in me. You are Jehovah-Shalom. Help me remember that my sanctification and my peace can only be found in You. Enable me, through Your Holy Spirit, to walk in joyful obedience as You go before me today.