‘For it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” – 1st Peter 1: 16 (NIV)
As servants of the Most High God, we are required to live a life of holiness unto Him. Doing this means that we are fulfilling an integral part of our stewardship to Him.
Examining 1st Peter 1:14-15, it mandates that “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, But just as He who called you is Holy, so be holy in all that you do” (NIV). In order to adhere to God’s command to be Holy, we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and diligently guard our hearts because out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).
The God we serve is not interested in living in buildings created by human hands (Acts 17:24), but rather, He comes to live in the hearts of men (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The Spirit of God comes into our hearts to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (including self-righteousness) and in its place He imputes His righteousness and in so doing transform our lives.
Once we are breathing and living for Christ, the devil will continue to fight a battle to recapture our souls. He has our ‘old files’ of the sins we committed before Salvation and will keep wrapping temptations of the flesh tailor-made to suit our former sinful desires, hoping to rekindle our interest and, in so doing, enslave us again. Soldiers of the cross, be reminded that the mind and the spirit of man are the fortresses that evil spirits yearn to capture. Do not yield!
It is unwise to believe that after repentance, the minds of believers are fully exempt from the influence of the devil – he will continue to work on our minds. The Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) admonishes us to “…demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Further, beloved, we are reminded in Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…”. We are to guard it.
As we strive to live a holy life that is pleasing and acceptable to our Holy God, let us continue to submit our thought life and various fleshly issues that we struggle with and allow God and His refiners’ fire to destroy everything unlike Him and make us whole.
Read: Romans 12:2; Hebrews 12:14Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 4; Jeremiah 51:15-64
