Becoming holy

I am still working my way through the book of Leviticus, in case you hadn't noticed!

Leviticus 11:44 …consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy.

I usually think of my holiness as something that only God can create in me, and in one sense that is true because I cannot work myself into a state of holiness.  But there is another sense in which it is my responsibility.  If I am not dedicated, i.e., consecrated, within my own spirit to be holy, then God cannot, and will not, make me holy.  This verse says the people had to make the first move toward being holy by obeying God’s commands, by consecrating themselves.  As I move towards being holy by determining that this is what I want God to do in me, God completes holiness in me.  I have to make the first move, and the older I get the more I recognize my need to remind myself of this every morning by praying and asking the holy Lord God to work His holiness into me.