2 Corinthians 7.1 1 Since we have these promises, beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing
holiness to completion in the fear of God. (ESV)
In the story of Samuel, in 1 Samuel 1 and 2, it doesn't take long to see who is and isn't genuine. At this point in Israel’s history,
there is a priesthood, but it had become corrupt. Samuel was the beginning of God’s
judgment on the priesthood of Eli.
Eli sinned by not disciplining his sons Hophni and
Phinehas for their antics and corruption as God’s representatives. Samuel is the
stark contrast of goodness and faithfulness to these two criminals who were
supposed to be leaders of God’s people.
Samuel’s mother gave him to the Lord out of gratefulness
to have a son in the first place. She’d been barren and poured out her
complaint to the Lord; and God heard and answered by giving her a son, the
young man Samuel. She was resolute in her asking and God was gracious in His
giving. And Samuel was guided into holiness (I think) by his mother’s godly
influence and by the retelling of the circumstances of his birth. Samuel
understood he needed to make the choice to follow God, and reject the
uncleanness of the situation he was introduced into.
Paul compared the majestic magnitude of following God to
the puny selfishness of giving into earthliness and urged the Corinthians to
make the right choice: to cleanse themselves from every defilement of body and
spirit by living in fear of the Lord.
Choosing to follow God will enable one to reject the pull of the world. Paul
told them to allow God to have such a place in their lives that they would
reject the things that would encroach into such a space. That was Samuel’s
defense: God held such a place in his life.
My behavior and choices are a direct reflection of the
size of the place I have given to God in my life. My holiness (if I read this
correctly) will be brought to completion as I live more and more in the fear
(the respect) of the Lord. If I respect Him, then I’m not as inclined to give
ground to the antics of a corrupt society around me. Living in respect for God
kills living for self.
My life’s mission is to live for God and to protect the
space I have for Him in my life – the bigger the space the more I am safe from
the things that want to take that space away from Him. Protecting my God-turf
is simply allowing everything I do to be filtered through the Space. And when I
do, the promise is holiness will be completed in me.
The world around us (whether it knows it or not) is dying
for a relief to what it has to offer. It doesn't know that, and probably doesn't want that, but it does want fair, and equity, and all that. What will our world
think as it watches holiness being completed in us? That’s a thought worth
thinking…
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