What does it mean to be truly holy? It’s to be like Christ: to belong, like Jesus, wholly to the Father, and so to be able, like Jesus, to bring cleansing to the world. Too often our idea of holiness falls short of Jesus’ example. The holiness we hear so much about is shrill and weak and unappealing.

The empire of Assyria was ascending; the king of Assyria’s holdings were growing. His armies were heading south. They had “come up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.” (36:1) Jerusalem was all that was left.

God calls His people to holiness. Is this intimidating? Sure. But then, after all, if God is holy, and we love God, perhaps there is a loveliness to holiness that we should consider. Even more so because Jesus embodies God’s holiness perfectly, and we sure love Jesus! Perhaps we’ve been working with an idea of holiness that is incomplete.

We have so-far observed that Scripture tells us to be holy. We have also observed that few of us are interested in holiness, but that perhaps we’re mistaken in this. (Of course we are!) After all, if God is holy, and God is glorious and wonderful and we like God, then perhaps holiness is a part of a kind of life that isn’t so bad. (Of course it is!)

What does it mean to be holy?
I'm not sure many of us are too worried about what it means to be holy. A little imprecision on this subject seems to benefit all involved. God gets to avoid being described as “too demanding” and we get to avoid being described as “worldy” or “sinful.” Hey! It’s a win-win!

Paul assumes that we will want to be holy, and are becoming holy. (1Cor 7:34; Eph 1:4, 5:27) He also says in those verses that Jesus is at work making us holy. Since that is happening, we ought to be holy. Not meaning, “push really hard and see if holy pops out,” but meaning that if Christ is at work in us doing this thing and it’s assuredly happening, then it ought to be.

I observed this week two conditions in which I or others feel negative feelings--E.g. anxiety, sadness, loneliness, anger, fear--or express negativity--E.g. sinful or pessimistic attitudes, actions, speech.

Psalm 23 contains the word “and” three times. Once, in v. 6, it means, “and then.” But twice it means “these two things together.” “Your rod and your staff… goodness and mercy…” One pair is an image, a picture of something else, something concrete; the second pair is that actual thing.

Comfort is not Deliverance
Many times when we say, “Lord, comfort me!” We mean, “Lord! Get me out of this!” We say comfort but mean deliverance. But this is not what the Lord offers.

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Luk 14:34-35)

We can call it righteous anger, or sadness, or frustration. But we're afraid. And we're supposed to be! "News" is code for "bad news." "News" is a shorthand way to refer to "bad things that have happened recently, which we think will interest you."

PRACTICAL BITS FOR NEW YEAR BIBLE-READING
Around this time last year I encouraged us to consider an intentional Bible-reading course for the year:
BIBLE-READING BIBLE CHURCH.
It's a good word for this moment in our year. It also contains a link to the Bible-Reading "plan" that I follow.

When Jesus invites us to "seek first God's Kingdom," He has two groups in mind. Perhaps you fall into one of these groups; perhaps you feel present in both.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. -Jesus, Matthew 6:33

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psa 27:14)
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (Psa 31:24)

Sometimes when I hear Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33 to “seek first the Kingdom,” it discourages me. For, of course, though I want to live that way—Kingdom first, start to finish—I don’t. It’s my heart, but it’s not my life. And who doesn’t get discouraged when confronted with the gap between our holy aspirations and our actual decisions? It can be debilitating: “Why even try!? Why even bother!? If I can’t be a success, I’m not even going to start.”

Happy Thanksgiving, dear ones. I am so very thankful for you!
May you have a nice couple of days here, eating and drinking and reconnecting with what is good, with joy.

All of us must come to the Lord. I hope you will, for a little bit, today. (Hey! I hope I will too!) I won't say don't be afraid. Fear is part of it. But there's something much better beyond, isn't there?

Ever visited a country where you don't speak the language? You've never been there before? You wake up and you feel very fragile--where do I get food? How can I find things out? You're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Sometimes we come to our senses (Luk 15:17) and realize that we're not where we want to be.

The relationship of Christians to politics in America is, by its nature, somewhat complicated. After all, we're not vassals of a distant Empire, or uprooted exiles--we're citizens of a country premised on the concept of us all having some measure of ability to influence the government.