I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy – Leviticus 11:44 (NIV)
Continually restate to yourself what the purpose of your life is. The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. Nowadays we have far too many affinities, we are dissipated with them; right, good, noble affinities which will have their fulfilment, but in the meantime God has to atrophy them. The one thing that matters is whether a man will accept the God who will make him holy. At all costs a man must be rightly related to God.
“Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe God came into me and make me holy?” If by your preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I resent you preaching. The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it must reveal that I am unholy; but it also awakens an intense craving. God has one destined end for mankind, namely, Holiness. His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing machine for men; He did not come to save men out of pity; He came to save men because He had created them to be holy. Atonement means that God can put me back into perfect union with Himself, without a shadow between, through the death of Jesus Christ.
Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind – every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God gives me, but also what I manifest that God has given me.
CHRISTIANA PERFECTION
Christian perfection is not and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship of God, which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the irrelevancy of the things you have to do, and the next thing that strikes you is the fact that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives are apt to leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary, and that by human effort and devotion we can reach the standard God wants. In a fallen world, this can never be done. I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life produces a longing after God in other lives, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God is not after perfecting me to be a specimen in His show room; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He likes.
Source: Culled from SALM’s article in the Chronicle newspaper.
STAY BLESSED
