There is a story about a pastor who was building a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. As he pounded away, he saw that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn’t say a word, so the pastor kept on working, thinking the lad would just leave. But he didn’t.
Finally the pastor asked, “Well, son, are you trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?” “No,” he replied, “I’m just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer.”
God calls us to a standard. Holiness!
“Some Christians spend the first six days of each week sowing their wild oats, then they go to church on Sunday and pray for crop failure.” There is a myth that exists that says we can live comfortably in our world of faith and then flirt with the world. God calls us to a standard. Holiness!
I read of a minister who was visiting one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress him with how devout she was by pointing out the large Bible on the bookshelf and talking in a very reverential way about it as “the Word of God.” Her young son interrupted the conversation, “Well, if that’s God’s book we better send it back to him because we never read it!” God calls us to a standard. Holiness!
When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious skeptic, was in his heyday, two college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn’t he?” The other said, “No, I don’t think he did. Ingersoll did not explain my mother’s life, and until he can explain my mother’s life, I will stand by my mother’s God. God calls us to a standard. Holiness!
Two preachers were carrying on a conversation. One said to the other, “Currently, we are having a problem at our church with mice. It looks like everywhere you step, you will be greeted by a mouse.” “Well,” said the other preacher, “we solved that problem long ago. We baptized all the mice, and they left.” This is a sad story that illustrates a familiar reality. Many individuals believe that once they are baptized, all they need to do is done. There is no need for holiness. No need for faithfulness. There is no need to attend every Sunday. There is absolutely no need to attend Wednesday night. It is not necessary to read your Bible every day and certainly a simple prayer at bedtime will do.
The truth of the matter is that Christianity does not end with trust in Christ through faith and baptism. In reality, we have a call to God to a standard. Holiness!
Holiness leads to faithfulness and faithfulness leads to holiness. As you see you cannot be faithful to God and not be holy and you cannot be holy without being faithful to God and His word and His church.
1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. Holy refers to being set apart or separate. We are to live so as to be dedicated totally to God. His word and pleasing Him is what drives us. We are to strive to be separated totally from the sin of this world.
In fact God did not call us to make us happy but to make us Holy. To make us like Himself. And in that holiness we will become much more than happy; we will find true joy! God calls us to a standard. Holiness!
Listen to Pastor Jack’s sermons on the way to church every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on 98.9 WSIP FM. To read more of Pastor Jack Ward’s articles and hear his sermons at Tomahawk Missionary Baptist Church go to tomahawkmbc.com. Watch his sermons on his Facebook page. Find him on Rumble, Bitchute and Brighteon video platforms.