Most of you do not take holiness seriously. Holiness is for other people, like saints, but not for us. Too many of us settle for the minimum daily requirements of discipleship. What is the least we can do and still get by in our faith?
The result is that not many of us are used to doing great things for God. Our lives, our witness and our testimony are compromised. Opportunities are there, but God doesn't “put us in the game” because we can’t be counted on to be ready to be faithful in those moments.
Holiness is more than being set apart. It also has to be with preparation. That is, the holy life is always ready for service. I will remind you of a story I often tell. Jeannie says you have to wash dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. I say, leave them in there until they get clean. Sometimes, I have to pay for my laziness and it usually happens when I am finishing off a great glass of cold milk. As I tip the glass up and prepare to swallow the last sip, I notice a gray gritty substance on the bottom of the glass. You know what has happened. The dishwasher has taken all of the lose food, chopped it up and blown it up into the glass. The heat cycle then baked it onto the glass.
Here is what happens next. I spit the milk out, grabbing my throat, calling out to anyone who will hear, “I have been poisoned!” Here is what I don’t say, “This glass is mostly clean.” No way! The glass is filthy! Everything it touches is dirty…
And yet, most of us will offer to God “mostly clean” lives…and we wonder why God doesn't use us much.
