I recently picked up a copy of Kevin DeYoung’s book The Hole in our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness.
I’ve read excerpts from books and entire books on the topic of holiness, but for some reason DeYoung’s book gave me a new perspective on why we as Christians should strive for holiness.
Holiness is not just going to church. It’s not just reading our Bibles, trying to do what we think is right, listening to Christian music, and going through the motions of what society thinks Christians should do.
Holiness is a way of life, not just to try to make our appearances look Godly, but to please our God and prepare our souls for eternal life.
How can we, as Christians, say that we want to go to Heaven, the holiest place we can ever imagine, but bring our sinful nature and desires with us? Shouldn’t we strive to rid ourselves of our earthly pleasures and fall deeply in love with God so that we can truly enjoy Heaven when we get there?
3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
I John 3:3-6
Consider spending an entire day cleaning your home. You dust, vacuum, mop, scrub, and wax your floors. Your home is immaculate. There isn’t an ounce of dirt in it, not one tiny smear on your glass windows, no dust in the air. It’s the picture of perfection.
Only for the first person to step in it is full of mud and chooses not to remove their shoes or clothes before making your home filthy, again.
How would you feel?
I wonder if that’s what Heaven is like and how God feels. Yes, He sent His Son to die for our dirtiness, but some of us still prefer to live within the muddy fields of life.
Instead, we need to do what we can to make our lives holy, pleasing to God.
He will welcome us into His glory, dirt and all, but I don’t want to be the person responsible for God to have to get out his vacuum again. (smile).
Oh God, give each of your children the desire to live holy lives.