The word holy has a bad reputation today. A holy-roller is “holier-than-thou.” Holy is placed before any and all exclamations: Holy cow! Holy smoke! Holy malarkey!
Yet in the Bible, we come to know a holy God. Peter said, “as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15, HCSB).
The English origin of our word holy is “whole.” To be “whole” is to be complete or mature. Can we aspire to be wholly whole, or wholly holy? This week let’s determine ways to be wholly holy in dependence, character, thoughts, speech, and actions.
Holy Dependence
You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.
Psalm 32:7
God is my safe place.
Recently my husband Sim and I were on our way to church dinner one Wednesday evening. I was supposed to “man” a display booth outside of fellowship hall. Our plan was for Sim to eat, then relieve me at the booth, and I would eat.
All’s well that goes well, right? Our car rounded a curve on the interstate and WHOP! Sim veered to the left but couldn’t avoid hitting a piece of metal in our lane. Not able to change lanes due to the traffic, he really had no choice but to run over the object.
Whatever it was got stuck under the car beneath the driver’s side. The left front tire would no longer turn, and we skidded to a stop just inches off the stripe at the edge of the road.
On the passenger’s side (that would be me), cars whizzed around the curve, having no warning that there we sat. On the driver’s side, a sixteen-foot wall of rock kept us from moving the car any further off the highway. Did I mention a similar rock wall was on the other side of the three lanes of traffic?
Sim yelled for me to get out of the car. What? Climb over the console in the middle of the front seat? Sheer terror helps one to overcome obstacles! Once outside, we had no protection. If a car rounded the corner with a distracted driver, we’d be squashed like the proverbial bug between the car and the rock wall.
But Sim led me to a literal cleft in the rock, where we huddled until two road assistance vehicles appeared behind our car. One driver put up lane closure signs while the other jacked our car and retrieved the metal object. “Drive off,” he shouted as he hurried back to his van. Did I mention the temperature was in the 20s?
We couldn’t wait to share with our Christian friends that God had provided a safe place for us and hidden us there in His hands. Strange how when God is all we have, God is all we need!
That same sense of dependence is the key to being wholly holy. Only the Spirit can accomplish in us all that God intends. He needs our cooperation—not our competition! This week, ask the Spirit to quell that spirit of rebellion that is in each of us and give us a “dose” of reliance on Him. After all, He’s the one who has promised everything we need for godliness (1 Pet. 1:3).
Seeking to be wholly holy,
Betty
Photo credit: rock wall: ID 1012043 © Dianne Mcfadden | Dreamstime.com