14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT)
My wife has an amazing China set. As a family, we know when the China comes out something special is going to take place and the food placed in and upon it will be top notch. Its value and worth are tied heavily to the fact that the set came from her mother who passed away 23 years ago, so they are treated with the utmost respect and dignity. They are set apart from all of the other dishes, never tarnished with an ordinary meal, and carefully and completely cleaned before their next use.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to live a life that resembles that China – a life that is holy and set apart for His special purposes. See, when we surrender our lives to Jesus and He becomes our Lord and Savior, He makes us into a new creation. We’re no longer a cheap paper plate or a throwaway Styrofoam cup, we’ve been transformed into the finest vessels ever created to be used for nothing less than Divine reasons. Our value and worth become priceless because we recognize that it cost Jesus everything to purchase us. And because we understand that this is our new identity, we no longer participate in or engage with the practices of our past that would damage, cheapen, or be undignified.
While there are things that followers of Jesus shouldn’t do, holiness isn’t about a big list of dos and don’ts. As we spend time in His Word, we discover what He desires for us, what He created and called us to be, and we begin to fall more in love with Him. And it’s out of that love that we live our lives in obedience as His precious children. As we walk with Him and grow deeper and stronger in our relationship with Him, we find that we begin to become more and more like Him. And it’s in this walk of grace with Jesus that He makes us holy like He is.
Are there areas of your life that you recognize are not leading you toward the holiness Christ desires for you? Is there sin you need to confess and repent of?
During this 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, will you invite the Holy Spirit to fill you fresh and new so that you can be completely set apart for His use? Will you surrender wholly to Him in order to be become holy like Him?