Yes, God DOES take your being holy seriously …

It’s alleged that former NFL quarterback, Joe Theismann, explained to his soon-to-be-ex wife why he was divorcing her like this: “God wants Joe Theismann to be happy.”

Theismann isn’t the first person to try to use a biblically incorrect argument for elevating the pursuit of personal happiness above all else, including over personal holiness. If Joe would have bothered to open a Bible to substantiate his premise, he would have learned that God is far less concerned about his happiness as compared to His seriousness about Joe’s holiness.

He takes YOUR holiness seriously, as well …

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time,” Hebrews 10:10.

God, who is holy, has nothing to do with what is unholy. Sin made us unholy, breaking our relationship with God. While we were capable of committing sin, we are wholly incapable of restoring ourselves from sin — that takes God, and God has made a way to make us holy! Take a look …

“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people — none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault,” Colossians 1:22.

Now that God has done for us, through Christ, what we could not do for ourselves, we must now live out that holiness we have in Christ. Look at how the following scripture combines God’s work of having made us holy in Christ, and our responsibility to live holy lives:

“For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy,” Hebrews 10:14.

Therefore, there is a persistent theme throughout the New Testament of calling disciples of Jesus to make living holy lives a top priority. Look at these messages:

Holiness is not optional …
“So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy,’” 1 Peter 1:14-16.

Holiness is to be our target …
“Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God,” 2 Corinthians 7:1.

Holiness is to be a central focus of our lives …
“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14.

Holiness is our life’s calling …
“God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7.

God’s children keep themselves pure …
“And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure,” 1 John 3:3.

What Theismann failed to understand is this: it isn’t that our happiness is unimportant, but our holiness is vastly more important! It’s something God takes seriously, and so should we.

Just how seriously?

Like this …

In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.

How precious is your holiness to you?

Scotty