The Pursuit of Holiness

“The pursuit of happiness” is certainly our heart’s default position. Every day we, by nature, want to experience feelings of pleasure, gladness and enjoyment. Unfortunately, at the present time, we live in a corrupted world, encased in corrupted bodies, pitted against a very powerful corrupted enemy who is bent on luring us with “harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9). If we thoughtlessly follow our natural appetites we will undoubtedly fall into a snare which will lead to multiplied pain and misery (Proverbs 7:21-27). While Christians should obviously value happiness and pleasure, we must recognize that most of it will need to be deferred to a more appropriate time and place. For now, the focus of our daily pursuit must be holiness not happiness. We should wake up each morning and say, “how can I be more holy today?” instead of asking “what can I do today that will make me happy?” This should also be our hope and prayer for others. We would be wise to say, “I want my kids to grow up to be holy” instead of saying “I just want them to be happy”. “The pursuit of holiness” ought to be our Christian “Declaration” and resolve. So let’s consciously recalibrate and pursue holiness this week.

Loving God With All

Many today suppose that a periodic acknowledgment of God or a half-hearted recognition of Christ should be sufficient to avoid any concerns come Judgment Day. “As long as I am not an atheist or a murderer and I believe in the Man upstairs,” they presume, “then I should be okay.” Perhaps we are partly to blame for such a widespread misunderstanding regarding the normative mindset of people who are forgiven. We too often acquiesce to our critics, tacitly agreeing that people with a zeal for God are “zealots” who would do well to tone it down. But Christ, when asked for the most important directive in all of Scripture, answered, “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). This is hardly a moderate attitude. It is high time for God’s redeemed people to remind themselves and everyone else that being sold-out for Christ and deeply in love with God is not “super-spiritual” or extracurricular. Being obsessed with God and resolute to serve Christ is normative and expected. May the world clearly see in us that there is no “happy medium” or halfway. God expects all his kids to be all-in.

Christ Honoring Words

While impossible to master this side of heaven, God calls us to give special attention to replacing our errant and superfluous words with Christ-honoring words that make a good and godly difference (Ephesians 4:29). While this requires restraint and thoughtfulness, the primary focus of this command is not some regular strategic planning for our upcoming conversations. Scripture’s concern goes much deeper. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Proverbs 10:11 tells us, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.” Inversely, Jesus asks, “How can you speak what is good, when you are evil?” (Matthew12:34). The key to a renewed vocabulary and more edifying talk is a renewed heart which is growing daily in righteousness. If our hearts aren’t advancing in Christ and our minds aren’t increasingly saturated with the truths of God’s word, then there is little hope that our words will improve. This is why the command to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” necessarily proceeds the call to speak to one another “with wisdom,” to engage our mouths “with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” and to be known as one who regularly expresses “thankfulness” (Colossians 3:16-17). So the next time it is revealed that your words need to be amended or reformed, find your way quickly to spend time communing with God and ingesting more of his heart-transforming word.

Scripture

One big challenge of the Christian life is to courageously stand our ground regarding the veracity of God’s word, while living in a world which makes a sport of mocking, maligning and ridiculing it. It is helpful to regularly study and frequently recall how the Bible stands apart from all other religious texts, and how God has gone to such great lengths to underscore its supernatural origins through so many exacting predictive prophecies. The Scripture also provides us perspective by reminding us that all people (not just Christians) will one day be held accountable for the truth contained in God’s Word. Jesus said, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48). Being certain about the truth and importance of the words contained in the Bible should not only instill us with fortitude when the world mocks Scripture, but should also prompt us to lovingly seek to persuade people to soberly reconsider the truths they now dismiss.

-- Pastor Mike