BE HOLY

I am on a quest.

My quest is to know more about God and to fall deeper into Him.

Some months ago, I found out that I was being distracted from God by books... They were all about God, numerous study guides and, instead of reading the word, I was consumed by those books, but they were someone else's journey of discovery.I then purposed to stop reading them and go on my own journey…. This has been, to put it mildly, awe inspiring.

God did not lie when He told us that if we seek Him, we will find Him as long as we seek Him earnestly. I have been finding Him and He has been teaching me more about Him and myself than I would ever learn from someone else’s encounter with Him. God has started working on me and is making me less of a basket case than I was. (which is saying alot!!)

My latest discovery (or should I say, my on-going discovery for the past month or so) is Holiness.

The definition of holy according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:

1.       Exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness or righteousness

2.       Divine which means related to or coming from God

3.       Devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity (i.e. God)

4.       Having a divine quality , or ‘sacred’

The definition of Holy in the Bible is the absence of evil. God is holy and therefore is the opposite of evil

The entire Bible is about the holiness of God and His instructions on how we are to live holy lives. The book of Job starts with a definition about the character of Job. He was a man who was blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil. Job was, by definition, a holy man.

Holiness is a concept that has long been abandoned, especially in our now, very liberal, times. Whenever anyone utters the word holy, you are immediately labelled a religious freak by non-believers and too intense by your fellow believers. These days, as long as you don’t go to an extreme of bad behaviour, anything goes.

I was having lunch with my sister one day when I told her that a friend of mine had invited me to go to a night club two days prior but I refused to go. My reasons were that I was now born again and determined to live my life in a manner that pleased God. She immediately chastised me, telling me that I did not have to drink when I went out to the club, I could always have ordered water or a soda. I found myself nodding my head to that and agreeing with her. Later, I was thinking about the conversation when I backtracked and thought, ‘Would God have been glorified if I had gone to the club and just drank water?’ Definitely not. At best, I would sit in a corner and moan to myself about how I’m not enjoying myself one bit, at worst, I would be judging the people there not realizing that I was also one of them at that exact time and that my confession that I am a Christian would not have been believed even for one second by anyone there.

But, most of all that was not hating evil and therefore, it was not holy

The Bible says that to be holy, one must shun evil, turn away from it, resist the devil, and fear God.

Being holy is being loving, peaceful, reverent, doing good. It is in essence, the following of the commands that Jesus gave us which were, loving the Lord with all our hearts, with all our minds and with all our strength, and loving our neighbours as we love ourselves. If we as Christians want to love God, doesn't it mean that we should seek to please Him in everything that we do and if we are to love others, shouldn't we ensure that we bring them up as blameless as we can before God?

We have forgotten or just dismissed the fact that God is God and He doesn’t change. God hates what is evil and that is why there were numerous cleansing rites before people could approach Him in the Old Testament. He eradicated that by the death of Christ (essentially Himself) on the cross and once we are cleansed from our sins on salvation, His command is just to be holy. It is something we must strive to every day and every hour.

As Christians, all the commands we have been given can be summarised in one verse- 1 Peter 1:15-16 ‘’ But be holy in all you do just like the one who called you is holy. It is written in the scripture Be Holy as I am Holy’’ (Leviticus 11:45; 19:2)

I believe, when we strive for that seemingly unattainable goal, holiness, we will unconsciously develop goodness, peace, love, joy mercy, patience, kindness, humility and self-control…

God loves you, and so do I

ADDY