Leviticus 5:1

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"... the holy things of the Lord." Lev 5:15

Are we not told that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof"? Do not all things belong to Heaven? Has not God himself said "All souls are mine"? Has he not also said the "silver and the gold are mine," and "the cattle upon a thousand hills?" To these inquiries there can be but one reply. Still, the separation of things into special relations to the Most High is perfectly compatible with the universal proprietorship of God. It is not always implied that one thing is holy and another sinful. The term holy often means separated; that is to say, set apart for special and exclusive purposes. Taken in this sense, the Lord has from the beginning made special claims in his own name. He has claimed one day in the week for rest and worship. He has claimed offerings from the flock upon the field in acknowledgment of divine ownership. He has set apart occasions for fast or festival, that the soul might address itself properly to the heavenly mercy. Self-deception upon all such matters is very easy. There is a piety which is void by generality. When men say they give all they have to God, and, therefore, need not set aside particular sums, they confuse things that differ. The man who lays claim to this entire consecration without having gone through a period of education shows the insidious nature of self-conceit. Where is the man who has been enabled all at once, without training and without experience, to give all his time and store to the service of God? No such man has yet been discovered in history. To claim to be such a man is to set up a claim for idolatry. To regard all things, times, and places as holy is a leap of the imagination which is likely to involve impiety. It is well for us to begin with one day in seven; one pound in ten; one church in a town, or a district of a town; from these partial appointments and sacrifices we may rise into the higher consecration. To say that we have found some other way to that consecration than the way which God himself has marked out, is to have anticipated Omniscience and invented a new theory of human nature. We are called upon to begin at distinct points, and to contribute of time, money, and influence, according to a measure; not, indeed, that we may stop there, but that, having tasted of the goodness of God's dispensation, we may go forward steadily and loyally to perfection and rest. Even with regard to the body and the mind, as they are known to us, some portions of them may be spoken of as being more peculiarly holy unto the Lord than are others. Specially should we guard the conscience: the imagination, too, should be bent in worship at the holy altar: the will should be watched as fire is guarded. Errors of judgment may be venial, but when the conscience is bribed or stupefied who can prophesy good of the whole life? To have some things marked as holy things of the Lord is to show at least the beginning of religious character and aspiration.