Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14, ESV)
We know a tour pro when we see one. Her setup, swing speed, body control, balance, sound at impact, even the many logos on her shirt or hat help us identify her as one of the game’s best.
Tour professionals consistently set themselves apart from the regular golfer who may get out once or twice a week and for good reason—it’s their full-time job. Their ability to regularly perform at a high level draws others in and catapults them to hero status. Aspiring golfers will try to be like Brooks Koepka or Lexi Thompson. No shortage of clips on the internet loop impressive golf swings from the top players in the world, so you can copy your favorites.
On a deeper level, we as believers in Christ are called to be set apart—or a word that is less common today but no stranger in Scripture: holy. Holy is used a whopping 700 times in Scripture and the verb form of it, sanctify, comes up 200 times. As my old middle school basketball coach would always say, “Repetition aids learning.” This kind of repetition on God’s part is of no accident and clearly significant!
What is of first importance is that we see God is holy. We can define holiness as the sum of all moral excellency; it is without moral blemish or defilement. We can never become God, but we are image bearers of God, meaning we can reflect this attribute of holiness. It may be easy to dismiss and say, “That ain’t me,” but slow down, friend. When we come to saving faith in Jesus, we are positionally declared holy, or sanctified. Because of Christ’s holiness applied to us, we are saved from the ultimate penalty of sin. Hallelujah!
While “complete holiness” is ours only in Christ, growing holiness is something we can pursue.Then comes progressive sanctification, which is the growing of Christlikeness throughout life. This helps us as we see both in the Old and New Testament that we are instructed to be holy, for the Lord God is holy (Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:14-15). While “complete holiness” is ours only in Christ, growing holiness is something we can pursue.
Any imperative in Scripture is to be heeded, and the one to be holy is on repeat. This is two-fold as we not only abstain from every form of evil and grow in our hatred of sin, but we also put on the garments of holiness. We strive by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit to be holy, growing in the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
My question for me and you today is, do our neighbors, friends and even strangers recognize a difference in us? As we strive for peace with everyone and to live in a way that is truly set apart, do people see the Lord at work in us? I pray they do, and I pray that we as believers in Christ would look to Jesus as the perfect example, constantly taking inventory of our hearts and lives. Let us encourage one another to put off our old self and put on the new, for in our newness in Christ, we are being made holy in him.
—
Aimee Neff
August 15, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.