TWO PART PROVISION FOR HOLINESS

Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.  I Thess. 4:8

Scripture says that there are some who go astray from birth.  (Ps. 58:3) From the moment they are born, they are bent toward wickedness. The rest of humanity though, knows what it is like to be spoken to by the Spirit of God.  Made in His image, my conscience gives me warnings when I step over the line and partake in something unholy.  It’s easy to ignore it, yes, but I know when I’ve transgressed because my conscience is a rudder, prompting me to stay on the right path.

Most of the time, I don’t need a Christian leader to tell me about basic forms of right and wrong.  If I rent a movie and encounter an explicit sexual scene, I should feel so uncomfortable that my fingers can’t hit the forward button fast enough to advance to the next chapter.  This compulsion to avoid evil should be second nature to me because I am God’s home and His Spirit writhes in discomfort in the presence of sin.

In an over sexualized society, temptation is everywhere.  If I perceive God as someone who consistently says “Don’t look at that!”, I will not understand how to stand in temptation.  God does not hand down a bunch of rules without making a second provision to enable obedience.  With the guidelines comes a person, the Holy Spirit.  He made me His home at the time of my salvation and provides, each moment, all the personal empowerment I need to follow His ways.

Today, I don’t set out to obey rules.  Looking at life like that is setting myself up for failure.  Yes, there are commands to follow, but I follow the Spirit’s leading in and around my daily choices.  If I fall, I am not communicating with the Spirit inside.  I am quenching His voice and deciding to go my own way.

God’s provision is two-fold for holiness; He provides the instruction, and He takes up residence in my sin-prone body to make His power available to me.  Sinning is not breaking a rule!  Sinning is turning my back on the Person who lives inside for the very purpose of helping me at my most difficult moments.

I can never say Your ways were just too hard and that’s why I failed You.  Your Spirit woos me to the higher road and provides my wings to carry me there.  Amen