BE YE HOLY - 4

D – BE YE HOLY – 4

In our striving to be holy, our faith must make us very sensitive inwardly toward spiritual things.  Sometimes as we go about the “habits” of a spiritual life, our hearts become numb to God and His leading.  We know we believe in God and have always said so, but if we really believe, why is it so difficult to be holy?  Heb. 11:6  Our hearts must be so full of praise and thankfulness each day that we feel like we are going to spill over.  If we are that diligent about seeking Him and knowing Him, then we will rise to the same and more in connection with our Lord.  Jhn. 14:1  If we know the One, we know the Other. 

God is always present whether we recognize Him or not.  Each day brings problems, choices, and decisions for us to handle.  We fret and worry, but forget to take our God and His Word as our counsel to guide us through them.  Ps. 139:7  He’s there but we forget or use Him as our last resort.  As we become separated from the world,  He becomes our first resort.  We recognize His Holy Spirit within us to empower us for those problems, choices, and decisions that are handed to us each day. Ps. 139:1-10;1 Kgs.8:27

Acts 17:27,28  Do we really live and move in Him?  Only then are we really ready to be sold out for the Lord and become set apart and separated for His purpose.

The Bible dictionary definition of sanctification was given as “the process of being made holy resulting in a changed lifestyle for the believer.”  This is not instantaneous.   A process of anything is a gradual change from one thing to something different.  We process food.  We have manufacturing plants that take raw products and process them into a finished product.  Col. 3:9,10  After we have been converted, then we begin the process of becoming holy—set apart—separated.  In this scripture, we find two basic steps—take off and put on.  We do this every morning when we dress.  We need to start every morning like this in a spiritual way—and it probably needs to be done every morning.  We get up and as our feet touch the floor, we pray that we can be a glory to God that day. As situations develop, we keep those old clothes off (our old habits, attitudes, etc.) and we keep putting on those new clothes as we are clothed in Christ.

These are actions that we must take.  No one is going to undress us and then dress us.  We are responsible to do it ourselves.  Col. 3:8  “but now you also put them aside.”  Both good and bad things start with our thinking.  Col. 3:1,2  It makes a big difference where we set our mind.  Our mind is set upon what we feed it.  If we continue to feed our mind upon things of the world, that will be the “setting” of our mind.  We can set our mind like we set an alarm and perhaps we need an alarm system for our thinking.

Things that are “set” are solidly in place.  Cement sets.  Pottery can be changed until it sets in a kiln.  Jello is no longer “set” when it becomes runny.  Affections are the things we are fond of—we love them.  These things we love are to be spiritual and are to be “set” in our mind that we may proceed with our desire for holiness.