A Call To Holiness
If
everything is covered by God’s grace, than why should we strive for anything more?
One author I read recently wrote about “settling for mediocrity.” Settling for second or third or even fourth best. Many of us
have a tendency to do this. As a homeshooled kid, I often felt as though I was
only completing assignments for my mom, which became rather.... un-motivating
after a short while. She was my mom. I would pass regardless, right? Oh well, if I didn’t do my best on this
writing assignment, or maybe mom wouldn’t notice if I skipped half of these
social study questions? Let’s just do the bare minimum.
Sometimes, I feel the same way with God. Why
bother striving for the best? We’re saved by grace regardless, right?
While the
message of God’s grace, and the fact that we are saved only by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is loud and clear all through
the New Testament, living a life of holiness is another message that the apostles
make a high calling for. Not that we would somehow earn our salvation or our
place with Christ, but that we would live as effective vessels on earth—That we
would live our lives in a way that really declares the greatness of God.
Do not
settle for mediocrity. Do not settle for pre-digested Truth in His Word. Dig in
yourself. Make the time. Pray. The Lord knows our weaknesses. Afterall, we
serve the High Priest who can sympathize with everything we experience on this
earth. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Therefore, prepare
your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to
be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform
to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who
called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:13-15
How freeing
to know that ultimately, our security lies in Christ’s perfection. And how
challenging to hear this calling of holiness. Do not conform to our former fleshly desires. This starts with
the renewing of our minds. It is important for me to teach my children to
behave in certain ways: to be polite, to have patience, to be kind, to be
self-less. How much more does our heavenly Father want us to walk in His ways
as His dearly loved children?
Well said. We are to be transformed by God's amazing grace, not just use it for a "do-what-ever-we-want" ticket.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting Julie
DeleteThis is beautiful and so is your heart. I am thrilled to find your blog - you are such a good role model! I adore the name of your blog, as well. Excited to start following you and read more.
ReplyDeleteIn Him,
Erin
www.sweetnessitself.blogspot.com
Thank you for stopping by, Erin
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