But few are willing to keep His commandments.
The Father said, “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Holiness is a high calling that often seems beyond our reach and beyond our comprehension.
Retired rabbi and college president Kaufmann Kohler PhD defines holiness as…
“…the state of separation from, and elevation above, things common, profane, or sensual… moral purity and perfection incapable of sin and wrong.”
Can we be holy?
Can we know how God expects us to live?
Can we honor Him with our lives?
Many think that the grand culmination of holiness is found in service. They busy themselves in every area they can, thinking that in this excess of activity, they somehow are right with God. I've been there. Perhaps you have too. Somehow, in this flurry of activity, we come to think we are living out the command to be a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:2).
We can give to the Lord our tithes and offerings and give Him much of our time, but sometimes it is all performed for the wrong reasons.
Please don't not misunderstand what I'm trying to say here. We ARE most certainly called to be living sacrifices.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)
We are indeed called to serve, but doing all of the ‘busy’ things, while good and right are not, in and of themselves, the sum of what God has called us for. He has a much higher purpose in mind. When we grasp that and fulfill the role He requires, we will naturally produce fruit to honor Him.
Listen. This is important...
A relationship with Jesus is
not about DOING.
It is all about BEING.
We did nothing to earn this
relationship.
Salvation is all about the grace and mercy of God.
It’s
all about what Jesus did – not anything we did.
It is Jesus’ finished work on the cross that enables us to BE. He has called us to…
-- BE born again (John 1:3)
-- BE transformed (Rom 12:2)
-- BE obedient (1 Peter 1:14)
-- BE blameless (Phil 2:15)
-- BE holy (1 Peter 1:15)
-- BE free (John 8:36)
…And so much more.
Remember the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus related what we call “The Beatitudes”? Let’s take a fresh look took at 9 things He said that day as recorded in Matthew 5.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
- Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
- Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
- Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
- Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
- Blessed are ye, when men shall…persecute you…for my sake.
Nine statements. Nine blessings. Nine things to BE.
Someone once described the Beatitudes as the “BE–attitudes”. These describe, in part, what God has called us to BE.
Want to blessed? Get your “BE–attitudes” on.
BE meek, BE hungry, BE merciful…
BE what God has called you to be.
Look at that passage again. Notice He never once in those nine sentences, nor anywhere else in His Word said, “Blessed are the busy, for they shall see God.”
Do you recall what took place when Jesus went to visit His friends Mary and Martha? Martha was in the kitchen going like a steam train trying to prepare a wonderful meal for the Master. She was so busy DOING, that she forgot that Messiah was much more concerned with her heart and her state of BEING. Finally, exasperated, she flew out of the kitchen and said, “Lord, tell my sister to get up and get in here and help me!”
Do you remember His answer? Very lovingly and very gently, He said, in essence, “Martha, you are doing a good thing, but Mary has chosen the best thing.”
Mary had stepped back from the busy-ness of life and put aside the DOING for a while, to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of Him. She was intent upon BEING what He had called her to be and knew she must hear His word in order to BE.
Mary chose the best thing. The best thing. Think on that. How often do you sit back and choose the best thing?
David said, “O how I love thy law! And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. For thy law is my delight.” (Psalm 119:97,47,70)
David got it. David saw the “best thing” is to know what God says and to BE what He calls us to BE. That is the whole purpose of what is known in Judaism at the Shema Prayer, taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41.
Deuteronomy 6:7 says we are to speak these words in the morning and evening. It is also recited when preparing to read the Torah on the Sabbath and on feast days. The Shema is placed in the mezuzah (scripture boxes) attached to the doorposts of Jewish homes and also in the tefellin (scripture boxes) Jewish men attach to their arm and head.
Why is such importance placed on these words? Why should they be repeated so frequently? These words declare the essence of Who our LORD is, and what He requires of us.
Many Christians tend to overlook the Old Testament, claiming that it is no longer relevant. However, the Old Testament scriptures are not just written for the Jew. They are written for anyone who has trusted in Jesus for salvation. "ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God ...and is profitable..." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Evangelicals (term used loosely) tend to balk at such repetition. They have somehow come to the conclusion that this would come under the heading of “vain repetitions” and “dead works.” They feel it cramps their style and places restrictions upon the freedom they wish to have in worship. In their efforts to be distinct from some of the larger religious institutions, some have exercised their liberty in Messiah a little too much in some ways.
Regardless of what has been done in time past, the Word of God stands for eternity. We must realize and remember that church traditions and practices, for the most part, have been established by man, not by God.
Below is the text of first portion of the Shema, as seen in the Complete Jewish Bible. As you begin to read, you will note the Hebrew has been preserved in some instances, which is why I like the rendering of the passages in this particular translation.
Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one]; and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Let's look at that again, personalize it and read aloud what God is saying to me and to you right now.
I have been commanded to love ADONAI my God
with all my heart, all my being and all my resources.
with all my heart, all my being and all my resources.
God's Word must be in my heart so that
I will remember His commandments,
speak of them throughout the day
and teach them to my children.
I will remember His commandments,
speak of them throughout the day
and teach them to my children.
These commandments are given to you and me from the Most High God.
Read from that perspective, allowing His words to sink deep within your heart, so that you will begin to BE what he has called you to BE.
God says we are to talk about His Word daily, at set times. How many of us actually do? Why do you think God requires us to repeat His commands so often? It is all about BEING.
We cannot BE what we do not know. The psalmist knew this and, in 119:11, declared,
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
The Word of the LORD must become an integral part of out thinking if we are ever to BE what God requires us to BE.
Can it be said of you that you and me that our “delight is in the law of the LORD”?
Do we meditate upon it day and night? (See Psalm 1.)
When our hearts and minds are set upon the Lord, His Word and His ways, the BEING will become a natural outflow the resulting love, faith and understanding of Him.
BE ye...
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