From The Desk of Courtney Henderson

Labor To Keep Your Holiness

 Over the past few years, I have taken many measures to avoid getting sick from Covid-19. I have seen what it has done to some and how contagious it is. Due to the nature of the virus, I make it my aim not to allow myself to be susceptible to it by avoiding situations where I would be compromised. My new way of life requires me to become more purposeful and diligent in all my ways.  I have given myself some dos and don’ts as I interact with others. I have come to understand that all I can do is my best to stay healthy while the condition of others is always unknown to me.

 We have been given a crash course in imagery as God cultivated our minds to know how to respond to sin. In the Book of Leviticus, Chapters 12-15, God spoke of “unclean situations,” such as discharge from the body and leprosy. God wanted them to see that uncleanness spreads. The issues dealing with the human body were not sinful, yet God showed through such situations just how contagious sin is.

 God asked the prophet Haggai to ask two questions to the priest. “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”’” Then the priests answered and said, “No.” And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”

 God showed that you couldn’t transfer holiness to something else by simply touching it, yet uncleanness could be transferred when it contacted a person or article; it would become unclean. Since we cannot catch holiness like a virus by being in the same room with someone who has it (holiness), we must work toward holiness. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). A well-kept heart with your effort will keep you unstained from sin. God wants us to know how easy it is to sin and how hard we must work to stay pure. Eat your spaghetti; without diligence, the sauce will be all over your clothes. Live your life; without living your life for God and diligence, your life will be stained with sin, spreading rapidly through its influence.

©May 28^th, 2022   Courtney Henderson