Holiness

It is Sunday morning, 13th September 2020, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.

If we go to the Book of Hebrews Chapter 12 and verse 14, the Bible says:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”

Now, holiness is the end product of obedience.

When we become obedient to God, then we automatically become holy men and women of God.

It is much easier to be holy when things are going well, don’t you think?

But when things seem to be falling apart - maybe your business is taking strain; maybe your health is not the way it should be; maybe you have lost your vision; maybe you don’t know what is happening -
it is quite hard to be a holy person, to be obedient.

And that is why Job, the farmer, is such a special man in my life.

He was severely tested. He literally lost everything that he owned.

Do you know that even his own wife said to him, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?”

But “in all of this, Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with wrong.” You can find this in Job Chapter 1 and verse 22.

In the end, God rewarded Job’s obedience, this holiness.

Remember, he said in Chapter 13 and verse 15, even “though He slay me, yet will I still trust Him.”

And God at the end of his life restored him. He restored everything he had lost by giving him back twice as much as he had lost before, in Job 42 and verse 10.

Why? Because he obeyed God.

Oh, my dear friend, you and I need to just keep doing what God has told us to do.

It doesn’t matter what other people say, it doesn’t matter what other people think. Holiness is obedience.

Remember that little story about that little boy, I think he was maybe four or five years old?

He was walking down the seashore one early morning, and a massive wave had come in and washed up tens of thousands of starfish onto the shore.

And the little boy was walking along and he was picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the sea, trying to save them, and a big man walked up behind him and he started to laugh.
He said, “Son, what are you doing?”

He said, “Sir, I am saving the starfish.” And this big man started to laugh.

He said, “You will never, ever save all these starfish.”

And the little boy picked up another one and he threw it into the sea and he said, “Sir, I saved that one and I saved the next one!”

I want to say to you today, it doesn’t matter about your circumstances. What matters is being obedient to God.

The Lord says, without holiness, no man will see God.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, doing what God has called you to do and He will see you through at the end.

Remember, God doesn’t need us.

He wants us and He wants us to be obedient to Him.

He can do everything else Himself, and especially for you.

Don’t ever turn your back on God.

Have a wonderful Sabbath Day and spend lots of time preparing yourself for the forthcoming week.