I am the LORD, who makes you Holy

Coming face to face with the Holiness of God can be a terrifying thing--just ask Isaiah. In Isaiah 6, we have a record of the prophet's encounter with the Lord--angels are flying around calling "holy, holy, holy is the LORD almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory," the temple is filled with smoke, the doorposts are shaking, and Isaiah realizes that he is most definitely not holy, and that this meeting with the perfect Lord of the universe might just be the last thing he ever does. But in the midst of his despair, God sends an angel with a coal from the altar to touch Isaiah's lips, declaring that his guilt has been taken away and he has been made holy by the Lord.

I think that this is one of the most beautiful stories in scripture, and it is one example of a truth that flows throughout the history of God's interactions with His people--the holy God, who requires that His people be Holy, set apart, blameless, is the very One who makes them Holy. God, who could condemn Isaiah for his "unclean lips" instead chooses to cleanse him and make him holy. God, who could reject all people because they are unworthy to come before Him, instead chooses and people to make into His holy nation. And in the part of the story we are most familiar with, God, bent on offering salvation to all people, sends His only Son to die to make the most unholy of us holy, pure, blameless before Him.

As we track through these stories, an essential aspect of God's character begins to come to light--God desperately desires a relationship with us, an unholy people, and He is willing to go to incredible lengths to make us holy and make that relationship possible. Our response here should be profound gratitude, and a willingness to live each day as part of His holy people.