Today's
thought comes from the first chapter of a book I read as I was starting out in
the ministry. It was 1987 and the book was written by a man who was
having a ministry of great impact at that time in New England -- Everett
L. Fullam. The book is entitled, "How to Walk With God."
Yet, before Fullam tells us how to walk with God (by faith, of course),
he points out one necessary detail many overlook in terms of the Being we hope
to walk with by faith. Enjoy.
"The
most distinguishing characteristic of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob --
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- is His holiness. It's not His
great power. It's not His infinite wisdom or knowledge. It's His holy
character, with no dark spots, no shadows, but rather light through and
through. His holiness means a consistency of purpose that is never deflected
and a constancy of devotion in continual and eternal covenant. If we are
going to be among those who seek the Lord, we must concern ourselves with His
holiness -- and concentrate on responding with a personal holiness that
conforms to the will and purpose of God (Hebrews 12:14 / I Peter 1:16).
Holiness
is not a popular idea today. There is a form of Christianity that is devoid of
holiness, an eloquent testimony that its god is not the God of Abraham, Issac
and Jacob, nor is it the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People
fashion gods after their own images and relate to those gods (those idols) on
their own terms, because their gods are products of their own self-creation. In
the early chapters of his prophecy, Isaiah recorded a marvelous vision of God
seated high and lifted up on a throne. Isaiah wrote that God's train filled the
temple, and that the pillars of the temple trembled at the presence of
God. He saw the place was filled with smoke and seraphs and angels flew
about, singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah
6:3). In perceiving this God, the first words that came from his mouth
were, "Woe is me, for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He had been dealing
with the real God, and said: "For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).
The
only time we can deal with God and not be impressed by the depths of our need
is when we fashion a god after our own liking and worship that god. We can deal
with that god and remain the same, but if we come into the presence of the
living God, we are struck with our own need. If we are unwilling to deal with
the things in our lives that are contrary to the purpose of God, then we are
not dealing with the holy God. We are dealing with an idol of our own
imagining... Whatever concerns us ultimately, whatever is the controlling
dynamic of our life, is our god. For some people it is family, for others its
careers, or getting ahead, or reaching the top. Whatever is dominant in our
life is our god; and if it is anything other than the Lord God Himself, that's
idolatry. Before we can walk with Him we need to deal with those things.
He wants His people to allow Him to be supreme, and so He told Abram to leave
his country, his people, and his father's house. He told him to throw away the
gods of his forefathers so he could start afresh, so he could learn to serve
Him in singular faithfulness...
God
is a God of mercy -- He is a God of the second chance, and the third chance,
and the fourth chance, and fifth and sixth and so on. When we come to Him --
even though we've been walking in the wrong direction, even though we've
stopped for a time and have not been moving at all -- if we recognize that
we've been disobedient, and confess and deal with our sin by repentance, we can
start over again right away. God's forgiveness cleanses, and the grace of
God again begins to flow toward us, and in us, as the joy of our salvation is
restored."
In
our day it must be asked if we seek to walk with God as He really is.
That is, if we seek to walk with the God who is revealed in the Bible as being
Holy above all else -- Holy, Holy Holy. Unspeakably Holy and unalterably
opposed to sin. A God who as Fullam points out, calls us to be holy as He
is holy (I Peter 1:16). In many ways this calls us to divest ourselves of
some of the common misrepresentations we have about Him in our minds. It means
we must be willing to rid ourselves of the images of Him that we've created (or
adopted over time) that make us feel more comfortable in dealing with Him.
In 1987 when Fullam wrote the book, he could say, "Holiness
is not a popular idea today." I would say that is
even more the case today. Yet if we are to walk with God we must not
ignore His primary attribute. For we are told He is, "the
Holy One of Israel." We are told to "glory in
His Holy name" (I Chron. 16:10). Scripture tells us, "our
God is Holy," and "His ways are Holy" (Ps.
77:13 / Ps. 99:9). No other attribute of God is ever repeated three times
in rapid succession. God is never said to be, "Love, Love
Love," or"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." But He is
said on three occasions to be, "Holy, Holy,
Holy." And therefore, if we desire to walk with Him, we
must seek to grasp -- maybe above all else -- exactly what that
means. For if we do not envision a God who is holy, we are not envisioning the
God who is.
May we learn to walk with Him in holiness and reverence, Pastor
Jeff
