Sunday, September 20, 2009

Fully Committed

We should be holy… [fully committed] before him.
Ephesians 1:4

The word "holiness" is a turn-off to a lot of people. It reminds them of the finger-pointing religionists, and negative experiences they've had in church. They immediately think of all the things you can't do, like a religious version of Robert's Rules Of Order. Nothing could be further from the truth. "He chose us in Him… that we should be holy… [fully committed] before Him." You'll never have the motivation to live a fully committed lifestyle unless you know that God has chosen you for a specific purpose. It's like being an athlete: certain activities might be permissible for others, but not for you. And why's that? Because you want to win the race!

Notice the words "we should be holy… before Him." True holiness is being aware of what pleases God, and what offends God - and living your life accordingly. In other words, it's not for man's benefit, it's for God's. In the Old Testament God used forks, spoons, basins, and flesh hooks for temple worship. Now, they were just ordinary kitchen utensils, until God set them aside for His use, then they became holy forks, holy spoons, holy basins and holy flesh hooks. And since contamination, could disqualify them for service, they had to be protected. Are you getting the idea? When God called you, He earmarked you for a specific purpose. Up until then, you were just 'Hal' and 'Helen', but now you're 'holy Hal' and 'holy Helen'.

Like a dedicated line on a fax machine, you can be used for one thing only - God's purposes. Once you understand that, and fully accept it, you'll never stray far from His will.


8 comments:

Bogie said...

I like this post :)

Debra Kaye said...

Amen, my sister. Amen.

Rebecca said...

Well explained and consistent with God's Holy Word. "...like a dedicated fax line" I like that!

Talk..to..Grams said...

This is really good Denise! Thanks for sharing. Hugs Grams

Shelby said...

Love this post Denise! It really is helping me to clarify my legalism vs self-discipline questions as well. Thank you~

RCUBEs said...

By His grace we can....Thank you sister for your prayer. Busy last night but was much better than Fri. night. Love you in Christ. Have a great week ahead!

Samantha said...

This is what our pastor preached on yesterday, we must be fully committed.
Amen, thank you for this dear Denise !

Gretchen said...

You're quite a teacher, my friend.