In my 66 years of being a U.S. citizen, I’ve been under the leadership of 11 presidents.
I’ve been under their authority; their decisions have affected my life and shaped my community’s way of living. However, I’ve never seen one or, more clearly stated, not been in the presence of one of our presidents. On the other hand, there are citizens that are in the president’s presence; they work with him or are his friends.
In the same way, there are people who are under the leadership of Jesus Christ. His decisions affect their lives, but they are not in His presence — not seeing Him. Jesus clearly states in John 14:21, “The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will show Myself to him.”
The person who sees Jesus, experiencing His manifested presence, is loyal in action and not merely in word. People like that prioritize being set apart for Him, which means they will not flirt with the things unbelievers chase after and are in love with. This person’s priority is to obey Jesus, even if it’s difficult, fosters hardship, or incites persecution.
Let’s look at a marriage. I don’t desire to flirt with, date, or sleep with other women. What’s my motivation? First and foremost, I fear God and don’t want to break His heart. But the other reason, which is also quite strong, is that I don’t want to lose the many times my wife Lisa shares with me the intimate secrets of her heart. I love being close with her!
A husband who’s committing adultery with other women may be able to hold his marriage license in his wife’s face and declare they’re married. It may be technically true, but what he forfeits is intimacy with her. She will have no desire for him to be in her presence. Furthermore, that marriage is not going to last long if he continues.
As a Western church, have we committed adultery with the world but taken our marriage license — the grace of God and the promised new birth — and held it up, declaring we are technically saved and belong to Him? We then wonder why we’re not experiencing intimacy with Him.
The number one reason I don’t want to commit adultery with the world is because I don’t want to ever lose the moments when God whispers a secret, a promise, an unobvious truth or hidden way from His Word that I’ve never known before. Or best of all, when He reveals a deep longing of His heart. This is more valuable than all the riches this world could ever offer!
This is the irresistible aspect of holiness. When you pursue it, you live in communion with Him and thus will be confident at His return. However, if you flirt with darkness, you are pulled out of fellowship with Him and can easily stain your wedding garment. You will be ashamed by your garment stains at the grand reunion of the bride and Groom.
When you understand the motive behind pursuing holiness, it becomes a delight, not a religious command.
It’s all dependent on your perspective, dear one, so chase after holiness. You will not be disappointed, and 10,000 years from now, you will not fret missing out on something. Instead, you will be forever glad you remained loyal to our heavenly Groom in this dark world.
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