E2H Jul. Issue

HOLINESS MEANS HAPPINESS

Holiness sounds scary. When we hear of it our mind immediately goes to thoughts of discipline, no adventure, little fun, and a total disregard for happiness. We think of the halls of a monastery. We think of individuals who have denied themselves of a lifetime of pleasure. Author John White seems to agree with that as he wrote in The Fight the images that came to his mind when he thought about holiness:

thinness
hollow-eyed gauntness
beards
sandals
long robes
stone cells
no jokes
frequent cold baths
fasting
hours of prayer
wild rocky deserts
getting up at 4 am
clean fingernails
stained glass
self-humiliation

Is that the idea you have holiness? Most do. It’s as if we’ve reserved holiness only for the monks, the missionaries, and the martyrs.

Chuck Colson once wrote, “Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and things we do, hour by hour, day by day.” It is not necessary to be secluded on a remote mountain to find holiness. Although the word means “sanctified” or “set apart,” we can still find success in everyday living. Holiness in action, speech, and thought will motivate us to be a people preserved for a better, more spiritual world—one in which we’ll find eternal happiness.

But what of the life here? Is being holy also subjugating oneself to a life of boredom? We must be holy because God has commanded it (1 Peter 1:15, 16). But, we also must be holy because it protects us from the consequences of this world. To be holy in mind keeps us from the danger of being depraved. Being holy in body shields God’s people from disease and ailments. God, indeed, has a purpose for the Christian’s sanctification. To be wholly committed to Christ is to find the ultimate happiness.

I like the commitment Jonathan Edwards made long ago, “Resolved, never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.” Perhaps a good rule of thumb in regards to what we do, say, and think is, “Will this compromise me at the Lord’s coming?” We never know when we’ll pass from this life or when the Lord might come, thus let us live every moment as if it were our last.

-BK