Be holy, because I am holy.

Like I said in my last post the last few weeks have been a roller coaster.  Part of that ride was studying through the book of Leviticus over the past week.  If we have to be completely real and honest I was not overly thrilled at all. When it came to the morning of lectures it was cold and rainy, and I personally wanted to crawl back in bed and fall right back to sleep. But that obviously did not happen, and I am sure glad that it didn't.
Over the Christmas break, as I was preparing to study the Old Testament, my prayer was that I would know and see Jesus throughout the books.  This meant that I was going to have to place more effort into my work and be humbled in major ways.  I remember starting off with Genesis and half way though asking, "Who the heck are these Israelites?" It was a very humbling moment to have to ask this question (I personally would have normally avoided this and moved on), but I was able to grow in different ways through this.
The same situation happened when it came to Leviticus.  Many times I would have to ask, "What in the world is going on?" And I think I am still throughly confused about a lot (make that I am positively confused about a lot), but at the same time I was able to see so much.
While I was running last Saturday, I was able to spend some good time with the Lord.  I remember getting around mile 10,  and the Lord was pressing in on my heart and I was trying to fight back.  It was almost as if He was saying, "Anna Lauren, your actions are good, but your motives are not where they should lie. Just look." "Look at what?" "Be holy, because I am holy."  #BOOM
Throughout the book of Leviticus the Lord tells Moses that the motives behind the many laws and sacrifices is that they are to "be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy."  As I started thinking about this fact my whole mindset and motivation behind going through this book changed.  I started realizing that there are many areas in my life that look wonderful and grand, but at the bottom of it all my motivation is not where it should lie.  I do not have to have elaborate reasons for certain situations in life, but I am called to be holy.
Throughout studying the first chapter in Genesis, it became very clear to me that God was infinitely sovereign over all.  I have known this pretty much my whole life, but it became very real to me over the past couple of weeks.  "In the beginning, God created..."  Nothing created God, but God was creator! Therefore He is a perfect, holy, and just God.  Nothing can change that fact.  But I am a selfish, stupid, messed up sinner longing for that God.  How?  When my sin and His holiness cannot mix? Being holy, because He is holy.  But I never fail to screw a few things up? But Jesus!
While I still will never get it all.  I do that because of Jesus I have the ability to have a relationship with this holy God.  He came as the perfect sacrifice and mediator so that this could be made possible.  And because of that truth I am called to be holy, because the Lord my God is holy!