Take Time to be Holy

Take Time to be Holy

1 Peter 1:16

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

            What does this mean “Be holy”?  I can comprehend to a small degree that God is holy. He is awesome, breathtaking, greatly to be reverenced, worshipped, adored, admired and unapproachable except through the blood and intercession of Christ.  How is it that God calls us to be holy?  How God, can we be like you? because we were birthed from above.  John 3:5-8 says, “⁵Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  Like we have born the image of the earthly, God is calling us to bear the image of the heavenly in the nature and character of Christ.  How could we be like God except God dwelt within us, empowering us and transforming us by His very Spirit Life?  The implication in today’s verse is that we are not automatically made holy, but rather we choose to be holy. Am I holy by my religion, by my righteous acts and deeds or by my ability to be like God?  No, the only way you and I can be holy is by dwelling in the presence of the Holy One.  We become like what we worship.  We become and are transformed by what fills our hearts, minds and souls.  Holiness is birthed out of spiritual union with the Lord.  It takes place as we give place to the Lord in all aspects of our lives.  As we practice His presence through a constant communion and prayer life, through meditation upon His Word and by allowing His love to govern our actions, words and deeds, we are manifesting holiness.  Is it sinless perfection; no, not at this point.  It is the process that is bringing us to that end.  Tribulations and hardships of this life are only a smelting process that teaches us to wholly rely and trust in the name of the Lord.  We come to the place in that pursuit of holiness that we love not our lives even unto death.  We know our God is able and can deliver us, but even if He doesn’t, we will bear the testimony of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in the book of Daniel when confronted with the fiery furnace for not bowing down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. “¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.””  This is holiness.  It is a faith and a lifestyle that embraces and trusts God in daily life.  His Holiness is a consuming fire that will devour our flesh and the bondages that hold us.  The enemy would throw us into the fire to destroy us, but God takes that fire of affliction, persecution and trial and uses it to perfect and purify us. 

          Are we going to struggle, stumble and often fail in the process?  Yes, we are going to miss it, but the Lord isn’t there to condemn and reject us; He is there to forgive, restore, pick us back up and set us again in His ways. 

          He is calling us to holiness, but we won’t partake of the holiness He has called us to until we choose to take time to be holy.  The world and its demands are constantly pressing in upon us, that is not the eternal, that is what is soon passing away, but the holiness we find by practicing His presence and being transformed from glory to glory as we behold His glory; that is eternal.  It is being God-natured and disciplined.

          Did you know that the simple little phrase, “Be ye holy” is used forty-six times throughout the Bible?  I think God is making a statement about what is important to Him.  If we miss that, then we are probably missing Him.  For many of us the concept of being holy is being something super spiritual, unapproachable, someone with their head in the clouds.  What was Jesus like?  He related with people and loved them where they were at.  Some of us don’t feel very spiritual and holy today.  It doesn’t matter where you have been or what you have done, the provision for forgiveness and the call to holiness is still there for you.  Holiness is not earned, it is the impartation of His presence and glory upon our lives as we walk, live and commune with Him.  We are His saints, washed in the blood and destined for glory, but holiness is an attribute that He wants us to put on now.  It is a god-minded attitude toward the world you live in.  Has He not told us to put on Christ?  Romans 13:14 says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].” Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  That is holiness.  It is Romans 12:1-2 where it says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  You see,” what is holy is sanctified unto God.”  When we gave Christ our lives and ask Him to come into ours, that was a point of sanctification, a point when we became holy and dedicated unto him.  Now we must live out that which we have committed to Him in faith by faith.  We must take the time to be what He has called us to be, “Holy”.