God Is... Holy, Holy. Holy!

By Jason V

I remember my Uncle Howard's collection of walking sticks.  He had been a world traveller and had collected walking sticks from all over the world.  If we asked nicely, he might show them to us, but we were not allowed to touch them under any circumstances.  They were special, set apart, reserved for his use alone.  They were, in a sense, "holy."

Did you grow up with "holy" things in your life- things that were set apart for a special use, better than common, reserved for certain people or certain occasions?  We just moved from Maryland to South Carolina this week.  In a special box, packed very carefully and handled with special attention was the 110-year-old mantle clock my school gave me as a parting present.  It has become, in this sense, a "holy" object in our household.

These things are, of course, only "holy" in a very limited sense of the word.  To be truly holy, something must be set apart by God for God's purposes, reserved for His use and for His glory.  In this was, the tabernacle and the temple were known as holy places.  When Moses saw God in the burning bush, the Lord called to him and told him to take off his shoes, for he was standing on holy ground, ground that was now made holy by the presence of God.  Later, the Israelites would return and worship God on that same mountain, Mount Sinai, where God would give His Ten Commandments, His holy law.

So, if something is holy because God sets it apart and reserves it from common use for His special use, then what does it mean for God to be holy?  Well, to begin our understanding of this, we need to know two things: First, God is not just holy.  He is Holy, Holy, Holy.  This is what the angels around His throne cry out day and night for all eternity- "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!"  This emphasis teaches us that God is not just holy in the sense that other things are holy, but He is the source of all holiness, the One who makes things holy. 

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