During my staff meeting this week, we spoke about the experience we had here in Israel last week, during the days of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. As the reality of war continues here, and as more lives are lost, Memorial Day becomes something you don’t just observe; it becomes something you carry. Many of us find ourselves joining what we call here the “circle of bereaved families”.

One of my staff members and I have both lost nephews in recent years. As we spoke, we realized that there are things you simply cannot explain to someone who hasn’t been there. Losing someone young, someone you love, someone whose life was still ahead of him, is not something you process in words. It changes the way you see everything that comes after.

Another thing we spoke about was this: how do you hold on to hope in the midst of that reality? How do you remain set apart without becoming hardened or losing perspective?

These are questions we face in real life, especially in the reality in which we are living in Israel. As disciples of the Messiah, we are called to be set apart in the midst of life, and I believe this is where it connects to this week’s portion, as we see God’s call to a higher standard for the priests. God didn’t call the priests to live like everyone else; they were in the midst of the people, but set apart in purpose and practice. Not for pride, but for purity. Not to elevate themselves, but to reflect His holiness more clearly.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them…”
Leviticus 21:1

And I believe there is something here for all of us today, because all who follow Yeshua are called to live differently, to follow a higher way of living.

In the New Covenant, Yeshua didn’t come to remove the standard of holiness. He came to fulfill it and raise the bar.

You have heard that it was said… but I say to you…
Matthew 5

He called His disciples beyond surface obedience into heart-level surrender. His words were not a release from holiness; they were an invitation into a deeper kind of holiness. We are called to live by a higher standard, not because it is easy, but because He is worthy.

Ezekiel 44 echoes this. We see the way God honors the sons of Zadok, priests who remained faithful when others strayed. They didn’t compromise. They didn’t bow to pressure. And because of that, God invited them closer to Him:

They shall come near to Me to minister to Me… they shall stand before Me… they shall enter My sanctuary.
Ezekiel 44:15–16

Reading this, I couldn’t help but wonder: what did their obedience cost them? Were they misunderstood, pushed aside, or distanced from others around them? Most likely. Faithfulness often comes with a cost that is not always visible from the outside.

And that question does not stay in the text. It meets us here, in the decisions we make, in the way we respond to pressure, in the moments where no one sees. Living according to God’s calling today may not always be understood. It may cost us relationships, comfort, and sometimes even how we are perceived by others. But it is in those very places that faithfulness is formed.

Let me encourage us all: choose the narrow way. This is not an idea, but daily decisions that often go unnoticed. Don’t lower the standard. Lean into it. He gives us the strength to walk it out, and He sees what others do not.

This path is not easy. But it is the one that leads to life. And in the reality we are living in, the question is not just whether it is worth it, but whether we are willing to walk it, one step at a time.