Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Be Holy
  1 Peter 1:13-19
Jocin Thomas

St Andrews MTC,  NY

16. for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.

One time my husband and I were invited to tag-team preach. I was super anxious and scared, the only thing that lessened my anxiety was my husband’s reassuring words: “we are in this together”. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I did not have to prepare alone, I did not have to deliver alone. He was with me. What a relief!
 
The given passage is a call to journey towards perfection, it is a call to pursue holiness, to be set apart. This invitation revolves around the person of Jesus Christ. Do we realize that the call to be holy is centered around the grace given to us by the revelation of our Lord Jesus?

Without the love of Christ compelling us to live differently and to live a new life, holiness would virtually be impossible. The grace and love of a Saviour who ransomed us at great cost compels us to pursue holiness. We were paid for with the precious blood of Jesus and are therefore called to a new life altogether in which good works and holiness are fruits of that rebirth. Christ’s death on the cross wiped our slate clean, generational curses were broken and we were atoned for. The good news of the Gospel does not end at Christ's death--He rose and He lives and we live! Christ's defeat of death gives us the ability to bring His Kingdom, His Lordship, on earth as it is in heaven! Through Him, we have the ability to be like him.
 
Remember that story about my husband saying “we are in this together”? That’s what Christ says to us. We should be relieved that we are not on this journey by ourselves but that Christ is with us  all the way. It’s an invitation to pursue Him, to pursue being "holy as He is holy", and He helps us to attain this goal.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we fix our eyes on You. We thank You for Your sacrifice for us on the cross. We repent for the times when we may lived  or acted  as if we did not need  Your loving and saving grace. We acknowledge it is by the precious blood of Jesus that we are redeemed and made holy. Amen

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Pursuing holiness is impossible apart from Jesus. He is the standard and the goal- the only means to get to Him is with Him and through Him.

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