What do I know of Holy?

As a family we have been reading through the Old Testament's account of the Israelite's journey from Egypt to the Promise Land. In this amazing story, the word "holy" is mentioned many times. Of course Lily and Aidan have tons of questions, most for which I could easily explain, but no question compared to the one concerning this mysterious word "holy". For a word that is so common in the christian vocabulary, a word I have said and heard said thousands of times, I found myself stumbling and searching for words to explain and describe what it really meant. From the time when Moses encountered God through the burning bush to the amazing account of God ascending on Mt. Sinai found in Exodus 19.

This was one of the kids favorite parts of this story. The set up lends itself to the vast imaginations children possess: A massive gathering of people, kids and adults alike all camped at the foot of a sky reaching mountain. God has told Moses that He, God Himself, was going to come down from heaven and rest on the top of the mountain. In verse 12 God tells Moses to "Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death'." Whoa, that sure caught Lily and Aidan's attention! Why would they die if they touched the mountain they asked? Why? Because God is Holy I quickly replied... they were not satisfied... There I was again straining to explain what this "Holy" thing is... I was at a loss for words and I found myself brushing the questions off and moving on.

But the truth of the matter remained, and as a powerful song by the band Addison Road penned it, I found this question lingering in my mind: "What do I know of Holy?" The kids asked why Moses could go up to the top of the mountain to see God and the other people couldn't? What does God see as Holy?... well as a part of our bible time 2 nights ago we read in Psalms 24:3-4 this answer: "Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false."

Well there it is. Plain and simple, or is it? More to come...