The Salvation Army was birthed out of a movement called “The Holiness Movement.” This was a time in church history when the people of God were stressing the importance of living out holiness in their everyday lives. Holiness means to be in the state of being holy, but what does it mean to be holy? In Scripture, we are told that God is completely set apart. There is no other god like Him. In fact, He is the only true God. He was around before time began and created everything. God is completely His own thing, because He is the source of all things. God is completely set apart from all other things. In fact, that’s what it means to be holy—to be set apart.

We see that God creates a garden and sets it apart. Later, He chooses holy people, Israel, and sets them apart. Even in the temple of God, we see that the candlesticks, tables, bowls and other items used for worship were holy because God set them apart for a special purpose.

In the New Testament, the followers of God are called “a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5, NIV) because we have been set apart by God to do the work of the Kingdom in the world. In 1 Peter 1:16 (NIV), the apostle Peter quotes the words of God from the book of Leviticus: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

“With our own power, in our own strength, we will never achieve holiness. However, we have the opportunity to experience holiness because God is holy.”

Now these words can often be misunderstood. No matter how hard we try, we can never set ourselves apart. We do not have the power, authority or ability to create holiness. With our own power, in our own strength, we will never achieve holiness. However, we have the opportunity to experience holiness because God is holy. His holiness will set us apart. It is not us, but the power of God that sets us apart.

We see that four young men were chosen: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were taken into the king’s court and were assigned a daily amount of food and wine from the table to eat. However, Daniel and his friends refused to partake in the food from the king’s table and instead only had vegetables and water. After 10 days, these young men looked healthier and more nourished than the others who ate and drank all of the food and wine from the king’s table.

The reason they refused to eat the food was because they knew God’s Word, which told them which foods they could and could not eat. They obeyed the commands of God knowing that He would sustain and care for them. They also kept God’s Word by making sure they did not eat food sacrificed to idols, which were false gods, not worthy of worship.

By abstaining, they showed their devotion to God and their trust in Him. They knew that King Nebuchadnezzar could not make them holy, even though he chose them and set them apart as leaders. They knew that the food they ate or didn’t eat wouldn’t make them holy. Instead, they fully realized that God Himself would make them holy as they continued to love, serve and obey Him.

Daily Readings:

• October 1:  Daniel 1
• October 2:  Leviticus 11:41-45
• October 3:  1 Peter 1:13-25
• October 4:  Leviticus 19:1-2
• October 5:  1 Peter 2:4-10
• October 6:  Romans 12:1-2
• October 7:  Ephesians 2:19-22
• October 8:  Colossians 1:21-23
• October 9:  Colossians 3:12-17
• October 10:  Genesis 2:1-3
• October 11:  2 Timothy 2:20-26
• October 12:  Exodus 19:3-6
• October 13:  Deuteronomy 7:1-11
• October 14:  2 Timothy 1:6-14
• October 15:  1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
• October 16:  Exodus 28:31-43
• October 17:  John 20:19-23
• October 18:  Hebrews 10:1-18
• October 19:  Ephesians 5:25-33
• October 20:  Titus 1:5-9
• October 21:  Hebrews 7:26
• October 22:  Jeremiah 1:4-10
• October 23:  Ephesians 1:3-14
• October 24:  Romans 11:13-16
• October 25:  Revelation 4
• October 26:  John 10:31-39
• October 27:  Exodus 3:1-6
• October 28:  Hebrews 12:14-17
• October 29:  Isaiah 6
• October 30:  Romans 1:1-7
• October 31:  Hebrew 2:10-11