Live A Holy Life
A recent sermon series at our church was on "Living With Hope in a Broken World." One week, three key points on how to do that were:
(1) Life a Holy Life (2) Life With Fear of God (3) Love One Another Earnestly With a Pure heart.
One of my favorite young mothers at church texted after the sermon and said, "Could I come speak to you about the sermon?" She came the next day and said, "I want to live a life that is holy, but how do you do that?"
Before she and I looked into God's Word in 1 Peter 1:13-24 where Peter packs a purposeful punch on this topic I said, "Think about this. Daily we wash dirty dishes and clothes, we wipe out messy sinks and potties, we squish spiders found in the corners, pick up after ourselves and others, pull up weeds in the yard and clean up debris that has blown in the yard. Physical clean up is none stop. Likewise, being Spirit controlled isn't just a daily choice, it's a moment by moment choice. A step by step willingness to be led by the Spirit.
Colossians 2:6 says "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him..."
Adrian Rogers wrote, "The Christian life is a continual walk; our 'footsteps' are repentance and faith. These are not things we do once in order to get saved; the step-by-step walk of repentance and faith is our daily practice. Repentance is God's way of revealing myself to me, and faith is God's way to revealing Jesus to me. Repentance is where I see the bankruptcy of me; faith is where I see the glory of Him."
On Instagram I heard a comedian share that often it's best to wait and say the third that comes to your mind. His wife was complaining that their cooler didn't work on a camp out. Everything she had placed inside had thawed/melted. He looked inside and said, "Where's the ice?" She said, "You don't need ice! It's a cooler!" I think his first thought was "What are you talking about?" Second, "You are an idiot, it's not electric!!" But he saved his marriage and went with "You are right. I will check on that."
My husband lives out James 1:19 by being slow to answer. Maybe he's waiting for the third thing that comes to mind, but most likely he's waiting on the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit.
Let's nibble on these instructions in the Peter passage and gain wisdom as to how to answer God's call and live a bit holier.
Chosen to Live a Holy Life 1 Peter 1:13-16
Be alert and think straight.
Put all your hope in how God will treat you with undeserved grace when Jesus Christ appears.
Behave like obedient children. Don't let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be.
Always live as God's holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. That's why the Scriptures say, "I am the holy God, and you must be holy too."
Amen!
The Songs
"You Are Holy" Jesus Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFrcxolk3Y&list=RDAiFrcxolk3Y&start_radio=1
"Worthy/You Are Holy/We Fall Down" John Wilds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0u0hKWbmX8&list=RDL0u0hKWbmX8&start_radio=1
