We are a work in progress, striving daily for God’s holiness
Soon, I will experience a birthday, a jubilee of years, in fact, and my handsome husband enjoys reminding me of this coming day with a countdown. He knows the number of days remaining until my birthday, and he enjoys reminding me for two reasons: He is a number’s guy & His birthday comes forty-five days AFTER my birthday. Sixty years. While I do not dread the turning of six decades, I do wonder HOW I EVER REACHED THIS PLACE. Just a moment ago, I was ten and playing cowboys and Indians with my little brother, wearing a toy gun strapped on my hip and racing through the barnyard. Then, when I left playing childhood games, I took up playing sports, and it seems just yesterday, I was racing home from work, only to change clothes to hurry over to the softball field. It was twenty-eight years ago when I gave up “playing softball,” once I learned we were pregnant with our daughter.
Time is a funny thing and a NOT so funny event. Most recently, I have experienced a few more aches, some new pains, and AGE spots. These small brown spots just miraculously began to appear, and it makes me wonder if they were always hiding underneath and deciding now to appear. Furthermore, for years, I have worn my hair short, and of late, it is apparent that the GREY hairs are more plentiful than ever before, causing me to ask: How long until my entire head is covered in a “new-to-me” natural hair color? Truly, isn’t sixty our grandparents’ age, not ours?
While age (and life) happens when we are making other plans, there are certain events we should live for every day the LORD gifts us with another day of life. You see, believers in Christ Jesus are a work in progress, striving daily for God’s holiness.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of this truth through a vision given by the LORD.
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
(The Book of Isaiah 6: 1-7 NASB)
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings:
with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said,
[Isaiah did & repentant humanity does too]
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand,
which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
He touched my mouth with it and said,
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
THIS IMAGE PERSONIFIES GOD’S SALVATION!
You see, God is not “the man upstairs” or “our co-pilot” or any other label humanity wishes to call Him.
HE IS AN AWESOME GOD!
HIS HOLINESS DEFINES HIM!
HE IS GLORIFIED MAJESTIC!
HE IS HOLY GOD!
History cannot change God, evil will not overcome the LORD, and the future will not intimidate Him. Thus, the world collectively asks, how holy is God? The Creator who spoke the world into existence and everything in it is the same God who sent His only Son to dwell among us, to die a death that paid the ultimate price for our sin. Since darkness, evil, and our sinfulness has no fellowship with God’s purity, CHRIST JESUS DIED TO RESCUE US FROM OUR HORRIBLE DISOBEDIENCE TO HOLY GOD.
When the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sin and revealed Jesus’ work on the cross and in the grave, and once we repented of our sins—THEN GOD MADE US ALIVE WITH JESUS, TRANSFORMING US.
Therefore, we have no excuse for our ongoing sin.
Nothing is hidden from God’s sight; everything is laid bare before His eyes. More than anything, Christians need to remember they are a “work in progress,” sinful creatures who are continually saved by the LORD’S mercy and grace. NEVER will believers wear out God by coming to Him, in seeking His help and forgiveness, for nothing can prevent the Lord from one day presenting His church, faultless, before Holy God.
Thank goodness, JESUS ARMS ARE ALWAYS OPEN and GOD IS ALWAYS LISTENING for the prayers of His children. When the veil of the temple was torn in two, this gave believers access into God’s presence.
The apostle Peter wrote about the living Hope and sure salvation—
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
(The First Letter of Peter 1: 13-16 NASB)
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written,
“YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
So, despite the numbers of birthdays accumulated or the age of your life, make sure Jesus has changed you internally, spiritually. Obey the laws of the land that do not go against God’s Word. Once you have believed on Jesus and received God’s gift of salvation (whatever your age), ask God to reveal your sins and seek His forgiveness.
Represent Christ in Every Place, Every Day.
BE DEVOTED TO KING JESUS!