There have been times when I was still pastoring that I would bring a message on holiness. That subject is not an easy one – especially considering that to give it, you have it live it. Preaching about holiness would usually wipe me out – probably wiped out my listeners also!
Holiness is not an easy message, but one that needs to be brought. Holiness has been missing in our times. It’s not something we preach or teach on very often. It is so difficult to understand, if not impossible. God is so far above us, so separate from us, His holiness cannot be grasped. Yet it must be desired and pursued. In fact, we are commanded to do so.
1 Peter 1:14-16: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
There is not much room for argument in that passage. We are to be holy, conformed now to the image of our God, no longer conformed to the evil desires we had when we lived as the world lives.
When I look at my life, I realize that so much of it is still operating like the world. There is so much of my thinking I must still renew in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. So many times, I let my feelings lead the way instead of my spirit. So many times, I must return to my Savior and repent. So many things remain for which to seek forgiveness.
I never want to trample on the grace of God. I never want to get in that mode of taking God’s grace and forgiveness for granted, thinking I can live life according to the evil desires of the world and He’ll always be there with a load of grace and forgiveness to cover those things. I want to draw and live as close to the holiness of God as I can. Maybe that is where we all start? With the awareness that we need to start?
