SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.


OBSERVATION
In the previous chapter of Hebrews, the author encouraged us to do everything by faith. Here, we are reminded that we must also be diligent in our walk with Christ. We are exhorted to "make every effort to live in peace" and "to be holy." I am always struck by the last phrase here, "without holiness no one will see the Lord." It is clear that holiness must be combined with faith and one must be combined with the other for the disciple of Christ. Often we end up emphasizing one and de-emphasizing the other. But both must be held up.


APPLICATION
For me, this means that I must constantly and consistently look at every area of my life and make a decision to stay holy. I cannot simply "live by faith" and ignore my responsibility to keep myself clean and pure. At the same time, I know that faith is required for me in order to live a holy life, because it is impossible for me to do so simply by an act of will. I must combine my faith with a strong and willful decision to keep myself clean. That means relentlessly removing from my life those things which are unclean, whether it is keeping myself from reading and watching things that are unclean, keeping my thoughts from straying into the gutters of life, guarding my financial decisions from any areas that might be questionable in terms of the ethical uprightness, keeping my mouth from speaking ANY forms of lies and deceit, making sure that every transaction with others is above board, and on and on.

PRAYER
Lord, make me aware of those areas of my life where I have compromised my holiness. Put a guard on my eyes and on my lips. Sensitize me to those things areas where I have lost my sensitivity because of the muck of the world. Preserve me in holiness, Lord!