Holiness is the very character of God.
And God says to us…”Be holy, because I am holy.”

I’m not sure we get it.

Holiness in us can only come as the result of a right relationship with God. And, a right
relationship with God can only happen by believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as
our Savior. It really is all about Jesus!

We need to recognize that our position in Christ automatically sets us apart from the
world. Peter calls us a “Holy Nation and the people of God”. He also tells us how to
live holy lives in I Pet. 1:13-16.

I’m just not sure we get it.

On Monday we are going to celebrate the life of my Mother-in-Law.

Opal Payne was an awesome lady who loved the Lord and followed Christ with her living.

She was holy!
Yesterday, Charlotte found a 3×5 card in one of her Mom’s Bibles. It had these words
typed on it: “Holiness is not the way to Christ – Christ is the way to holiness.”

She got it!

Let’s get it.

I heard this cute story recently and I just had to share it with you. A distinguished Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. When little Jimmy heard that he enthusiastically spoke up and said, “My Mummy looked back once while she was driving her car, but she turned into a telephone pole!”

Satan tries so hard to get us to look back. He uses people, many with good intentions, to remind us of painful memories and situations that are firmly nailed to the cross.

Apostle Paul makes a few statements in Philippians 3:13-14 that instruct us on how to embrace our future and not get bogged down in the past:

Phil 3:13-14 NLT … No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Paul was focusing all his energies on forgetting the past and straining (making great effort) to accomplish his life’s mission. The past should not be a road block to the future and should not serve as a reason to quit the race God has called us to run.

I urge all of you to focus your attention on what is before you and give everything you have to accomplishing all God has called you to do. After all, who wants to turn into a pillar of salt or a telephone pole?