Be Holy

Holiness is not a word we hear a lot about these days, it's almost gone out of fashion in our culture, but I've been feeling challenged lately to take God's call to holiness seriously. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13) Following Jesus is not just about responding to his call at the moment of conversion, in one sense there are several conversions involved: conversion to Christ, conversion to his church, conversion to his cause and also conversion to his character. I remember coming to faith in Jesus at the age of eighteen, then a few weeks later deciding that I would join a church (I walked into my neighbourhood church HTB and have been there ever since), then I remember when the penny first dropped that there was a world out there than needed loving, saving, feeding. But the final conversion is much more hard work: conforming to Jesus' character is really tough and I am grateful that I came to faith at the age of 18 because I'm pretty sure I'll need many decades before I start to see real fruit. I've been thinking about some of Jesus' tougher challenges, like "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt 5:48) That's a tall order for someone like me, whose default setting is to be anything but perfect. I realize that without God's grace, and the power of the Spirit working in me, I won't be able to even begin. I take great comfort that the same Jesus who challenges me to be perfect, also said that "with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:26) Many years ago I was talking with an older friend about holiness, I found myself complaining that I could never be as holy as a great Christian leader we both knew well. This leader was a wonderful example of Christlikeness, one of those rare people you spend five minutes with and you feel that you've been with Jesus. I was bemoaning how I could never be like this person, when my friend let me in on a little secret: he had not always been such a saint, that many decades ago when he came to Christ he was not such a patient, kind and godly person. Now, this may seem a very obvious point, but it really encourages me when I wrestle with holiness, thinking that we are all works in progress, and that if I make it my aim and passion, God will be faithful and form the character of his Son in me. Bring it on!