Leviticus 19:1-2
God Tells Us to Be Holy as He is Holy
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
God wants us to be like His Son, Jesus...Jesus is Holy, as is His Father...By being like our Father's Son we are more Holy and Good...Let us learn from Jesus through the Gospels and other men and books and the good things written about Him...He is the LORD...His name is to be written on our hearts...As William Wilberforce says it doesn't make sense to say we are Christians and followers of Jesus and do not follow His Ways and cling to Him...Jesus is full of Faith, Love, Zeal, Gratitude, Joy, Hope, and Trust...Let us be this Way, the Jesus Way, the Truth, and the Life...
William Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade....He was a Christian and believed in Jesus...He said these things about Jesus and His Father...If there is no passionate love for Christ at the center of everything, we will only jingle and jangle our way across the world, merely making a noise as we go...If then we would indeed be “filled with wisdom and spiritual understanding;”...if we would “walk worthy of the LORD unto all well pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;” here let us fix our eyes!...“Laying aside every weight, and the sin that does so easily beset us; let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God...I devoted myself for whatever might be the term of my future life, to the service of my God and Saviour...I am disturbed when I see the majority of so-called Christians having such little understanding of the real nature of the faith they profess...Faith is a subject of such importance that we should not ignore it because of the distractions or the hectic pace of our lives...We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred volume without meeting abundant proofs, that it is the religion of the Affections which God particularly requires...Love, Zeal, Gratitude, Joy, Hope, Trust, are each of them specified; and are not allowed to us as weaknesses, but enjoined on us as our bounden duty, and commended to us as our acceptable worship...Can you tell a plain man the road to heaven?...Certainly, turn at once to the right, then go straight forward...The gospel freely admitted makes a man happy...It gives him peace with God, and makes him happy in God...It gives to industry a noble, contented look which selfish drudgery never wore; and from the moment that a man begins to do his work for his Saviour's sake, he feels that the most ordinary employments are full of sweetness and dignity, and that the most difficult are not impossible...And if any of you, my friends, is weary with his work, if dissatisfaction with yourself or sorrow of any kind disheartens you, if at any time you feel the dull paralysis of conscious sin, or the depressing influence of vexing thoughts, look to Jesus, and be happy...Be happy, and your joyful work will prosper well...All men of enlightened understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also acknowledge, that vice must offend and virtue delight Him...In short they must, more or less, assent to the Scripture declaration, “without holiness no man shall see the LORD...Christianity recognizes no innocence or goodness of heart, but in the remission of sin, and in the effects of the operation of divine grace...Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain scoffs of ignorant objectors...Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of Him: and let them consider as devolved on them the important duty of suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of morality...True Christians consider themselves not as satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude...Let him then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and over his heart with unceasing circumspection...Let him endeavour to learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent Christians, what methods have been actually found most effectual for the conquest of every particular vice, and for improvement in every branch of holiness...Thus studying his own character, and observing the most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature; the knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and especially of his own, will be of the highest utility, in enabling him to avoid or to guard against the occasions of evil: and it will also tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience, which are eminently characteristic of the true Christian...Surely the principles of Christianity lead to action as well as meditation...I would suggest that faith is everyone's business...The advance or decline of faith is so intimately connected to the welfare of a society that it should be of particular interest to a politician...Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over...We all will give an accounting to God of how we have lived...Is it not the great end of religion, and, in particular, the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the violence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative social and civil duties?...Can one serve God and one's nation in parliament?...Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer...It makes no sense to take the name of Christian and not cling to Christ...Jesus is not some magic charm to wear like a piece of jewellery we think will give us good luck...He is the LORD...His name is to be written on our hearts in such a powerful way that it creates within us a profound experience of His peace and a heart that is filled with His praise...