Our life hangs on God’s timetable. No mortal being knows when eternity will break in. There lies an eternal abyss within each soul and only God is big enough to fill that void. Endless pursuit of worldliness, carnality and material gains has blinded humans from seeking the transcendent glorious satisfaction in God. The inner depth of the soul cries for freedom from the corruption of human flesh yet the carnal mind indulges on and the still small voice is flushed out. The craving of human carnality defies the appetites of spirituality. The struggle to please God and the sinful nature rages on. Many have been noosed and tied as the worldly spirits entices them until they’re pierced with the arrow of death. “Come, my darling, and I will give you all that you want,”calls aloud the sin-loaded harlot. The seductive voice and appearance makes men stumble and tremble at her. The ramifications of the enchantment of worldly desires are deadly and bitter as gall. Humans have yet to learn from past failures.
O, our soul longs to be free! Free from the shackles of this world. Why is this struggle between flesh and spirit so relentless? The road to sanctification and holiness is the inner cry of the heart. “Be holy because I am holy,” says theLord (1 Peter 1:16). The call to live a life of purity strikes a chord with many Christians and the need is imperative. But we push it out of our mind. The spirit yearns for prayer, communion and Bible meditation but the flesh says “Tomorrow.” We think about prayer and the night haunts us for deeper intimacy with the Divine. But procrastination gains the control. Repent tomorrow but not today. There is still plenty of time to make rectifications. No! This could hardly be recognized as the voice of our enemy. “Tomorrow is the devil’s day,” states J.C. Ryle. “But today is God’s. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions, if only they are determined to be done tomorrow,” unquote.
The belief of God as love and grace should not blind us from the inescapable character of God’s holiness and justice. As plain as it sound, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord,” says Hebrews. Christian life is much more than being justified before God; it is being sanctified and purified before the maker of Heaven and earth. It is not just being saved from the penalty but from the power of sin. It is dangerous for Christians to be indulging in worldly affairs having the faulty assurance that forgiveness is still in balance. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? God forbid! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?Do not take the grace of God in vain. His fury will be unleashed on those who have trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them.
We see so little of God because we seek him so little. We feel less of God’s power in our lives because we experience of Him too less. In focusing our attention to the upward heavenly direction, the things of this world will grow strangely dim. The goal of Christianity is to know more and more of Him. It is to search for living water and find satisfaction in the fountain of life. Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:1-4). Amen.
