Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:
Jeremiah 16:16-18:23
1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3
Psalm 81:1-16
Proverbs 25:6-8
Let's look at Thessalonians. Paul tells the people of Thessalonica that God is calling them to not live impure lives, but to live holy lives. And it's easy to fall into an error when we think of living a holy life. I once had a teacher tell me (and the rest of the class) that he could prove that we could live sinless lives. He said he can sit at his table at home for five minutes and not sin. Not do ANYTHING wrong. And if it's possible to keep from sinning for five minutes, then it's possible to stop sinning altogether!
But being holy (which is what being sinless means) isn't primarily about what we DON'T do. The focus is not to STOP doing those bad things. The focus is to START doing, and continue doing, the good and loving things. It means LOVING people, more than anything else. That's why Paul says at the beginning of today's reading to "do what we taught you more and more!" You can't exactly STOP doing things more and more. But you CAN love people more and more. And that's what living a holy life means.
That's why holiness is exciting and fun. Because loving people is awesome. The more you love them, the more you enjoy loving them. Being holy isn't about keeping a list of bad things and making sure you don't do any of them. That would be boring. It's about going out and loving people.
God, thanks for teaching us what living a holy life means.
No comments:
Post a Comment