Friday, September 27, 2013
Holy Is Not What You Think
iMonk quotes Lewis and points out:
WE are what God make holy - not activities, not things - US! And in us being holy the things we do become holy through us.
But it is really hard to become holy. It requires that I face my sin and confess it. It requires that I let God rip that sin from my body, like a surgeon removing a tumor. We set up these things to avoid the having to actually change. Like the person that thinks the surgery will kill them, not the cancer, we soak in our own sinful juices and avoid the necessary.
Do you REALLY want to be holy?
confession holiness
The observant person will notice that it is not only Christians, but zealous believers of every kind, who teach that simple pleasures are somehow wrong. It is a common flaw of utopians who think that we must build heaven on earth through our own efforts or prove ourselves worthy of a heaven beyond.
…Of course, the Old Covenant vision of the Kingdom of heaven on earth is full of simple pleasures, and not only the worship services of the book of Revelation. When we read the whole Bible, we discover that “heaven” on earth includes raising animals, tending vineyards, laughter, wine and family. I do not pretend to know how this works out in history. I only know that simple pleasures are holy. The are not the enemy. They are not a waste of life. They are the gifts–even the delight–of a God who filled all of creation with simple pleasures, many of them for Himself alone.I think we choose a legalistic path - the path of trying to make things holy because that is so much easier than the work God really wants to do. It's easy to quit drinking. It is really hard to learn to be a nicer person sober.
WE are what God make holy - not activities, not things - US! And in us being holy the things we do become holy through us.
But it is really hard to become holy. It requires that I face my sin and confess it. It requires that I let God rip that sin from my body, like a surgeon removing a tumor. We set up these things to avoid the having to actually change. Like the person that thinks the surgery will kill them, not the cancer, we soak in our own sinful juices and avoid the necessary.
Do you REALLY want to be holy?
confession holiness
