What Are You Striving Towards

Whenever I engage in a new endeavor, I always try to envision what the end result will be so that I know what I am trying to achieve. Stephen Covey in his book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" deemed this "Begin with the end in mind" and stressed that it was a critical component to effectiveness.

While secular in origin, this axiom is no less true for the Christian. Consider that the beginning point for a Christian is a keen understanding of the 'end.' And frequently, as it was for me, it was the desire for a change in destination that brought me to a point of brokenness. Scripture tells us to 'keep our eyes on the prize' and to 'await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.' These are the Christian equivalents to 'begin with the end in mind.'

If then our greatest hope, our most vibrant dream is to stand before God and to 'see him' (as we so often proclaim) how do we convert this goal into action in our daily lives? Is it by waiting for the final refinement in the fire of judgment? Or is it by the slow, steady process of sanctification through discipleship carried on in our daily lives?

My focus verse today speaks to this matter. Consider;
" Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." (Hebrews 12:14-15, NIV)

With respect to this teaching, I offer these observations;

First, we are to 'make every effort.' This speaks of a vibrant, dynamic and intentional effort that we are to initiate. Though we are dependent upon the power of The Holy Spirit we are not to passively await it to perform a work in us. No, we are 'get the ball in motion' so to speak by making every effort within our ability. Joel Osteen often says "you do the natural and God will do the supernatural." Joel is not speaking about doing what is natural to our sin nature but rather he exhorts us to do everything within our power within the natural world so that we may facilitate the supernatural efforts of The Holy Spirit in the spiritual world.

But a call to action without purpose is empty and meaningless. This verse calls us to apply every efforts towards two distinct aims.

First we are to 'continually exert ourselves' to 'live in peace with all men.' This is simply (HA!) the manifestation of Godly wisdom in our lives. James wrote in James 3:17 that "...the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." Our relationships then are to reflect the God-given, promise-fulfilling, heavenly wisdom that is poured out to us freely from God. We are to mightily labor to live in peace with all men. Can there be anything more difficult in our practical lives than this concept? Yes and that brings us to the second point.

We are to 'make every effort' to 'be holy.' I fear that we often consider holiness as the passive result of purging out sin. But in this context, 'be holy' is active and living. To allow God to purge of us of all that is unclean does not result in holiness, cleanliness perhaps but not holiness. Consider that in this passage "to live in peace with all men" is joined to "be holy" by the word 'and.' Consequently, I would say that though we may be 'clean' if we are not living in peace with all men then we are by no means holy.

Nevertheless, the nuances of a pursuit of holiness is fodder for another discussion. So let me point out that the fruit or result of our 'living in peace with all men' and 'being holy' is that we may see The Lord. The passage states that 'without holiness no one will see the Lord.' I do not think this means that we will not stand before him and face him for judgment. I believe it means that we will miss his greatest blessings not only in the hereafter but in the here now. On this topic, Jesus said;
"Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him." (John 14:21)

What could Jesus be speaking of other than the state of holiness? In possession of the commands and a life of obedience, that is the nature of our holiness. The promise is that through the practical, daily-life application of heavenly wisdom, CHRIST WILL SHOW HIMSELF to us. That is, we will 'see the Lord.'

Returning to the focus verse for today and turning my attention now to v15, again we are called to action. "See to it" (make every effort) "that no one misses the grace of God and no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." In this verse, I see at once the call for us to 'evangelize' that no one may miss the grace of God (The Good News) and also the call for discipleship. With respect to that concept, there are far too many Christians today who sit in the pews, content with their ticket to heaven, and miss out on the daily grace of God in their present-day lives. That is our responsibility; to make certain they do not miss it.

Further, this verse speaks of the vigilance against the division of believers. I suggest that when a church divides it is because someone (or many someones) did not 'make every effort to live in peace' with a fellow believer within the body of Christ. A situation germinated a seed of bitterness. But it is the lack of 'tending the soil' or lack of 'effort' that allows the bitter root to 'grow up to cause trouble and defile many.' I believe the term here is 'apostasy' and this is a grievous condition that cannot be tolerated.

So for having said ALL that, the take-home point for me is that if I want to 'see the Lord' I have to be very intentional about forgiveness and making a living peace between me and everyone with whom I come in contact. I have to know what God says and do it. I have to help others in their own efforts and I have to 'tend the soil of the church' pulling out every bitter root, every tendril of evil that I may find. I'm going to need help, I need The Spirit. So that shall be my prayer today, to be filled with The Spirit that 'He' may complete me in every respect that I am lacking. The 'He' may give me the wisdom, strength and endurance that I need to live as Christ lived, in peace with all men.

Dead-man out,
Carl