Rick,

I was just reading from Exodus chapter 3 and was reminded of an example of what it means to be holy.  Remember, Moses was out in the middle of the wilderness.  He had been raised as a prince of Egypt.  He was now tending sheep for his father-in-law.  The Bible says that he was on the backside of the desert.  That doesn't sound like a great place to be.  It doesn't sound like a place where you would expect to meet anyone, especially God.

Moses sees a bush that is on fire.  He decides to check it out, because he can quickly see that this bush is not being consumed by the fire.

As he approaches the bush, God tells Moses to remove his shoes because he is standing on holy ground.

What made this place holy?  Was there something significant about this bush and the ground around it that made it holy?

No.  This bush and the ground around it were declared holy because they were in the presence of Almighty God.  By implication, we can be declared holy when we have the presence of a Holy God in our lives.  There is nothing about us that merits holiness.  It is all about the presence of God in our lives.