In the forests of northern Europe and
Asia lives little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it.
Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don't set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn't enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life. (HGB, Our Daily Bread, April 21, 1997)
Peter instructs his readers
: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning (conforming) yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance
: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1
: 13-16)
To be holy is the opposite of being “common” or “profane.” God is holy in that He is utterly different and distinct from His creation. His people must also be distinct and separate from the unbeliever’s attitudes and actions that characterize them. We are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that [we] should show forth the praises of Him who hath called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2
: 9)
With the Lord’s soon return Peter asks his readers, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” (2 Peter 3
: 10-13)
