Quotes on Holiness

I have been reading The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul to take part in Tim Challies' challenge to read the Christian classics.  Although I kept thinking I was going to share the things I've been reading and learning from the book, every week passes and I just never get around to it because of time.  I'm doing well if I actually have the chapter read the day before Tim reviews the chapter on Thursdays.

I realized that even though I don't have time to put all my thoughts down in a post, I could at least share some quotes that spoke to me from the reading.  Here are my favorites from chapter 8, Be Holy Because I Am Holy.

The call to holiness was first given to Adam and Eve.  This was the original assignment of the human race.  We were created in the image of God.  To be God's image meant, among other things, that we were made to mirror and reflect God's character.

The Bible calls us "holy ones."  We are holy because we have been consecrated to God.  We have been set apart.  We have been called to a life that is different.  The Christian life is a life of nonconformity.

The "saints" are called to a rigorous pursuit of the kingdom of God.  They are called to depth in their spiritual understanding.

The key method Paul underscores as the means to the transformed life is by the "renewal of the mind."  This means nothing more and nothing less than education.  Serious education.  In-depth education.  Disciplined education in the things of God.  It calls for a mastery of the Word of God.  We need to be people whose lives have changed because our minds have changed.

To be spiritual has only one real purpose.  It is a means to an end, not the end itself.  The goal of all spiritual exercise must be the goal of righteousness.  God calls us to be holy.  Christ sets the priority of the Christian life:  "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt.6:33).  The goal is righteousness.

 

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Only the Name Has Been Changed

Someone had recommended the book Hinds' Feet on High Places (by Hannah Hurnard) to me several years ago.  I've had it in the back of my mind and thought about it from time to time. 

Would you believe I've never read an allegory?  Nope.  Not even Pilgrim's Progress.

I was able to get my hands on a copy last week, and I've been reading it a little at a time.  What a sweet story! 

The main character is Much-Afraid, and I can't believe how much I identify with her.  Poor little thing!  She really is a pitiable little gal.  So much like us, hmm?

I'm telling you, this story could've been written about my spiritual life.  It's as if someone has secretly been following me around and observing all my victorious moments and the times I've cried in secret defeat.  Then they wrote it all down in a fairytale-type story (changing my name for privacy's sake, of course).  Although, it's no fairytale.  It's really true to a Christian's daily spiritual walk.

There are so many sweet passages throughout the story.  I wanted to share one quote that particularly spoke to me today.

You may think that Much-Afraid was altogether too much given to shedding tears, but remember that she had Sorrow for a companion and teacher.  There is this to be added, that her tears were all in secret, for no one but her enemies knew about this strange journey on which she had set out.  The heart knoweth its own sorrow and there are times when, like David, it is comforting to think that our tears are put in a bottle and not one of them forgotten by the one who leads us in paths of sorrow.

I just liked that.  I think I'm often ashamed of my tears, but tears are part of the journey.  They make us cling tighter to the Shepherd and long for Him more, don't they?

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Quotable Sunday - Proverbs

I thought I'd link up today with A Daily Dose of Toni for her Quotable Sunday.  I've been reading in the book of Proverbs for my daily quiet time with the Lord this week, and there are so many interesting things that Proverbs addresses concerning the wise and the foolish.  Here are some of the quotes from Proverbs that have stood out to me just from chapters 17 and 18.

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. - Prov. 17:9

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. - Prov. 17:10

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  - Prov. 18:2

A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. - Prov. 18:6-7

You can't read Proverbs for very long and not be convicted over your pride.  Many of the warnings given about the fool and his behavior are because of his prideful heart. 

The fool doesn't cover offenses.  He is highly opinionated and has no room to hear what anyone has to say about a matter.  He is always ready to pick a fight, and the things he speaks will get him into trouble every time.

I don't want any of those foolish things to be said of me.  I need to evaluate how much of my responses fall under the label of "fool", confess them, and humble myself under God's Word. 

Have a worship-filled and restful Sunday.

  

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