Holiness is something that God has been teaching me about for the past few years. I am constantly consumed and challenged by this idea that we are called to be holy, different, set apart from the rest of the world because we are God’s people. If this is something I really believe then my whole life has to be different from what the world tells me.
I was reading today’s entry in Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest titled “Destined To Be Holy” and many of the questions I have been asking myself came rushing back to me.
It was a reflection on 1 Peter 1:16. Chambers says,
We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, nobel, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. The only thinkg that truly matters is whether a person will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs, a person must have the right relationship with God….
Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk with God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind–placing every details of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.
I have to ask myself, what desires, whether good or bad, do I hold in higher regard than God and His holiness? Do I believe that no matter the cost a right relationship with God is of utmost importance? Do I want to walk in absolute purity? Do I want to live as a person marked by God?
