A Call to Holy Living (cont'd)

James 1: 15-16 but, as the One who called you is holy; you also are to be holy in all your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

In our world as we see it today, the above verse is impossible to obtain, or is it?  If we were to shake all of our life and empty ourselves of everything that really has no real meaning to us especially as believers, what would we have left?  On several occasions I have witnessed a dog coming in out of the rain and shaking the excess water from his fur.  He does this because it’s uncomfortable for him to walk around in this condition.  He’s wet and dirty and the extra burden just weighs him down.  So they, by reflex, shake the excess from their body.  They might do this up to four times to get this load off of their body.  It’s just easier to walk around and even lie down and sleep when this load is off of their fur and away from their skin.  The same thing applies to us as believers.  We allow so much of the world (by even simple contact) to attach itself to us to drag us down.  This extra load does us no good in the Christian life today.

Now sin can be a serious burden.  Even the word sin itself sounds burdensome.  So how does this tie into today’s verses?  That’s easy; any behavior in our lives that does not point to Jesus Christ is wasted time and effort (the Bible is clear about this).  If we are to reflect Christ to a lost and dying world then the world needs to see us unencumbered and with a sense of freedom in spiritual, emotional, and even physical movement.  When we allow some of the world attach itself to us then the lost and downtrodden become confused as to what we truly represent and reflect.  When our heart is free from sin and the burden of guilt our attitude changes from the inside out and others can see us for who we truly are, rock solid in Christ.  This doesn't mean we push ourselves on others, it just means that we allow ourselves to be placed as a tool in the Master’s hand to be used by Him in a way that brings Him glory and honor at which time we get the privilege of feeling the warmth of His grip on our lives as He uses us to reach others for Him.

So we must conduct ourselves always in the way that would honor Him, which means we willfully act in life as the Apostle Peter did in his conduct so at no time was his testimony ever brought into question and his integrity was maintained so when people saw him they knew who he was, no questions asked.  Do we always get it right? No we don’t but that is what Grace does for us.  Our intentions may be good, but sometimes our actions may appear to be selfish.  Allowing sin in our lives will injure our testimony in the long and short run.  Sin has no place in our lives and if it stays long it will begin to corrupt our hearts and we as a result begin to compromise our testimony.  Is that what God wants for us?  Oh NO!  D.L. Moody, the great Evangelist of the later 1800’s said that he tries to keep “short accounts” when it comes to sin in his life, which means when God impressed it upon him that he needed to repent of some deed then instead of putting it off till later he addressed it right away and dealt with it quickly.  We should do the same.

Key thought: “Be holy, because I am holy.”  Let’s all watch how we conduct our lives.  Let’s reflect Him, not us…..

Prayer:  Dear Father in Heaven, guide me to be more conscience of my conduct in Christ that I made be a more useful tool in Your hand.  In Jesus' name, AMEN! 

Have a GREAT day!

In Christ,

Rev. Ted J. Wilkins

Founder/Director of “Good News Brief For Men” Ministries   

© Copyright 2014, Ted J. Wilkins, Good News Brief For Men.