Feb 22 2009
The Call to Holiness
Jesus said, “Be ye holy as I am holy.” An incredible, impossible, task for man, right? Jesus knew that when He made that statement. He knew there was no way you and I could ever be holy…Not in our own strength. He gave that command, so we could see we can never measure up. In our own strength we are weak, wayward, selfish, and–well–a hopeless cause. That’s exactly why we need Him.
Oh, we are blessed, there’s no doubt about that. We have talents and gifts that are very useful, but we need to grasp an important truth–they can’t make a dent when it comes to being holy.
Have you heard the Michael W. Smith song that says, “You are the air I breathe”? “I’m desperate for you”? That’s the truth of the matter, but we’re often deceived thinking we’re doing just fine without God. Guess where that deception comes from? Of course, the Devil himself. He wants us to think we’re managing just fine, when, in truth, we are desperate for God.
We probably are doing fine if all we want is to live for ourselves, but God put us here for more than that. He put us here to reflect His glory, and if we’re not doing that, we aren’t living according to His purpose. His purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus, to be light and salt, to lead men to Christ, and to spend eternity with Him. And the thing is, it’s a package deal, all or nothing.
If that’s not our heart’s desire, the reality is, we don’t belong to Him at all. We are merely going through the motions, but we do not have His heart. And we will not be part of the solution when things get hard. When things get hard we will walk away because in our flesh, it will be too hard to stand.
Now is the time to get this right. Today is the day to say, “For me to live is Christ, and anything else is not enough.” From now on it’s going to cost a lot to be a Christian. It will no longer be popular to wear the name. So unless we’re on board all the way, living for Christ with all our hearts, souls, and strength, we won’t overcome until the end. And it will cost us everything; we will be separated from God in hell forever.
The point I’m trying to make is this: we can no longer sit on the fence, straddling both sides. Scripture says there will be a great falling away in the last day. Christian forecasters are now saying the rush toward chaos and end times persecution is already upon us, and they’re shocked at the speed it’s happening.
Maybe you’ve said the sinner’s prayer, but it didn’t mean anything, or you did it to please someone else. Well, it’s time to decide for yourself. Do you want Christ or will you walk away? Will you be in that “falling away” crowd?
Fall in love with Jesus, submitting your heart before it’s too late!
Because of His great love,
Nancy
