More than a Waffle House

Its time for a game! Word association. Ready? Waffle House. What is the first word that comes to mind. It the word that just jets out of your mouth probably isn't "clean." Most likely it wasn't "perfect" either. The word that I think of first when it comes to Waffle House is "dirty!" I still enjoy the waffles though. It is just kind of a grungy place. I mean it is hard to keep a place clean that is open 24 hours a day, but the atmosphere in Waffle House is not the most appetizing.

Last night I went to Waffle House with a couple of friends. It was a fun time, and we ate waffles! Our waitress was named Rene, and she was trying to memorize Romans 6:15-18 for a bible study she attends. In that passage Paul is instructing Christians not to become slaves to their sin, and Rene said she was memorizing it because she wasn't doing the right things when it came to her body. She was just being real and honest. She acknowledges that she doesn't have the cleanest life.

I have come to the conclusion that Life isn't clean. The more I think I am getting somewhere the more I realize I am going no where. When I finally feel like I have my life in control and living the life God wants me to live, I come to understand I still have a long way to go. I am the farthest thing from perfect. This isn't some new revelation. Just something I have been reminded of while reading Leviticus.

Leviticus is like an instruction manual for the Israelites and their interactions with God. Moses gives the rules for different kind of offerings and sacrifices the people should adhere to when it comes to their worship of God. Something that really just stuck out to me was God's strict restrictions for cleanliness. He wants his people to be a clean, pure people. Here is a list of things that God talks about when dealing with the Israelites spiritual and physical purity:
- What they are eating
- Childbirth
- Skin diseases (serious and not-so-serious)
- Clothing
- Houses
- Bodily Charges (eeww!)

Many of these things seem kind of pointless. For instance, who cares if you eat an animal has a partially split hoof and doesn't chew the cud? Why is it a big deal if a person eats a winged insect that walks along the ground but doesn't have joined legs? Or why does a woman have to purify herself for 66 days after giving birth to a girl? All of the rules God gives to Moses seem a little bit OCD. God cares an awful lot about the small things, but why? I think the answer is found in Leviticus 10:10 which says

You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean.

This is the definition of holiness! We are supposed to be clean and sacred. We are not to be common and ordinary. When Paul writes to one of the most disturbed churches in the first century when it came spiritual pride, sexual sin, and worship, he begins the letter, "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be HOLY..." As people and children of God, we are to be a holy priesthood. We can see in Leviticus God's will to make us Holy in every aspect of our lives. He wants to make us more than a Waffle House. If someone were to play the word association game with your name what would be the first word that would come to their minds? Would it be dirty and unclean? Or would it be Holy and clean? Don't be a Waffle House!