Day 2335 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


Leviticus 20:26 NIV

Set apart. Made new. Saved. Redeemed. Changed. Called to be different. As we've been talking about for a while now, living lives that mirror those of the world around us is not good enough if we truly want to serve Christ. All of the evil, the wickedness, the selfishness is not anywhere close to good enough. All of those things are the things that He came to save us from. He came to show us that living that way isn't as great as it's made to appear. It isn't endless fun and excitement. It's not true freedom. It's slavery to sin and knowing that should light a fire in us to leave those ways behind and live a different kind of life.

He didn't endure the cross so that we could see that image and leave only to return back to the vile lives that we've been living. He did it to open our eyes to the truth. We have to understand that sin isn't harmless. That's the message that the world around us preaches. But we have to choose whether we're going to follow the world or follow Christ. WE CANNOT DO BOTH! This world is messed up beyond repair because too many people have settled for evil and don't care to change. And that's why being like the world will never be okay for anyone that claims to live a life of faith in Christ.

The cross is a beacon reminding us that God is calling us to be holy. It's the image that tells us to flee from our sinful ways because we've been given the opportunity of freedom from our past mistakes. It's the promise that there is forgiveness for anyone who chooses to repent of their sins and leave the broken ways behind. It's God's most merciful gift of a Savior we do not deserve given to call us to a better life lived to carry His message of love and salvation to the furthest corners of this earth. Living for ourselves under the constant control of sin and evil is not okay because it will completely prevent us from living for Him!

As we discussed the other day, it's not easy. It's not meant to be easy. It's meant to change us. It's meant to lead us in a new direction away from the twisted life that we've always known. It's meant to shake apart everything that we've settled for so that we can live a new kind of life. Yeah, it's going to take some work. It's going to take some time. It's a process. It's a life-long journey. It's a daily battle to keep our eyes focused on Christ so that the appeal of sin fades more and more. We'll never be without sin because we're human. But that's the exciting part of it all! God has given us a goal that will keep us trying because we won't reach that finish line on this earth!

To be holy. To be changed. To be something that this world cannot and will not ever understand. To live a life that follows Christ away from the comforts and normalcies that we've selfishly sought in the past. We can't chase after His calling to be holy and still pursue the common desire to fit in and be accepted. He wants more than that for us. But we have to want more than that for us too. If we don't, if we settle for being like the world and doing as everyone else does because we buy the lie that it's more fun and more enjoyable then we will never know what it's like to experience His glorious presence. In this life or the one to come!

Friends, I know that this idea sounds impossible. To strive to be holy in a world that is everything but that. And in some ways it is. Again, we're not perfect and we never will be. But that's the carrot that keeps us forging ahead day after day. It's the unattainable goal of being something we can't be in this life that keeps us going. It keeps us seeking ways to improve so that we can move one step closer. The ultimate reward is an eternity of peace in Heaven with the Father who loves us more than we can imagine. And the only road there is the one that leads us away from the way of life that the world embraces along a far more narrow and upright path.

If our lives look like those of the world around us then we've missed the plot and need to get to work. We cannot settle for anything that doesn't push us closer to Christ. If it pulls us away from Him then it has to go because it's nothing but a hindrance that keeps us chained in a place we don't belong! He calls us to be holy, and friends, that's a calling that will we can chase every single day of these lives because we'll always have room to improve. What an amazing opportunity!!

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