Set Apart to Serve HimSample

Day 5 – Holiness, a personal and daily decision.

Holiness doesn't come to us from the sky, it is a personal and daily decision to be set apart for our Lord.

REFERENCE VERSES:

Romans 12:1-2

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Acts 26:17-18

17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 

18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Acts 3:15-18

15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 

16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

17 Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 

18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

REFLECTIONS:

Read Romans 12:1-2, Acts 26:17-18 and Acts 3:15-18; take a moment to respond to the following questions: 

➤ What is the meaning of setting ourselves apart for God?

➤ How does God get rid of anything in our lives that isn’t right?

➤ In your opinion, how must our sacrifice be so that it will be accepted by God?

CONTENT :

To be a Christian, is not to give up on all sense of responsibility. I do not know why so many Christians tend to believe that God will do everything for them in their place. It is totally false because God makes us His partners, which implies that He makes us responsible for our actions, our choices and our changes. In regards to holiness, let’s stop hoping that God will come to shake up and transform us, that we don’t have anything to do. It is a utopian idea that is only the result of a lack of will to become holy. Jesus loves us and He respects us greatly. What He does is to wait for us to make the decisions ourselves that are going to mark a change in our lives. Always remember that it is our decisions today, or lack thereof, that will determine who and what we will be tomorrow.

And so it is up to us to know how to place our life on God’s altar (cf. Romans 12:1) so that He will come with His fire to burn up everything that is not right or just in our lives (cf. Luke 3:15-18). The Bible teaches us that for a sacrifice to be acceptable to God, it needs to be given freely and totally for God. The word for sacrifice itself implies that it is not easy and that there is a price to pay…and yet there is always a rich blessing associated with sacrifice, because God honours the sacrifice with His presence.

We need to understand that God isn’t interested in the obvious, what He is looking for is our heart. Our hearts need to be pure and fully devoted to Him. So often, because we know that sin doesn’t please God, we have a tendency to want to try and make things the best possible in order to maintain a good conscience. But deep within us, we haven’t truly decided to stop sinning in our lives. The only solution to be freed from sin is the cross, which implies death to oneself, that is setting oneself apart for Christ so that we live in Him and for Him.

Making the decision to live in holiness and to no longer make any compromises with sin is an act of faith (cf. Acts 26:18) and it is up to us to make this decision. It is the result of our love for Jesus. For example, when we get married, we understand that we need to set ourselves apart for our partner, out of love for them. It is exactly the same in our relationship with Jesus: we mustn’t be motivated by necessity or obedience to the law, but by our unlimited love for our Saviour. Holiness isn’t a religious act, it’s the result of our intimate and loving relationship with our God. 

In our decision to set ourselves apart for God, we realise that sin isn’t only in relation to what we do, but it also implicates things that we don’t do. It isn’t only just avoiding evil but also to know how to do good. There isn’t holiness without a life entirely consecrated to God. As such, we cannot only live 99% for God: either we live in a radical way at 100% for God, or we don’t live for Him!

Now is the moment to make a decision: what in your life today needs to be given to God? What obstacles are there in your love relationship with Him? Cultivate in your heart a loving relation, passionate for your God and you will see the difference that that will produce in your life…

MY DECISION:

➤ What I have understood for my own personal life.

➤ What I am deciding to do in my life based upon what I have just learnt.

➤ What you decide to do today will determine who and what you will be tomorrow!

FOOTER:

Adapted from "un disciple en marche" copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse.  All rights reserved.