The need of pursuing holiness

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Chronicles 16:37–18:17 
Romans 2:1-24 
Psalm 10:16-18 
Proverbs 19:8-9

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Romans 2:22-24 (CSB) "You who say, 'You must not commit adultery' ​— ​do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Our Verses for Today are negative ... but necessary.

As Romans 2:22-24 states, too often our words are biblical but our actions don't follow suite. We talk like Christians but we act like people of the world.

For example, we say we should love our enemies but often simply ignore them and try to keep the animosity in our hearts from showing.

We say we should share the Gospel and yet an overwhelming majority of Christians will never ... ever ... share their faith.

We say Jesus has called Christians to purity ... and yet many Christians watch movies with filth or laugh at dirty jokes around the cooler at work.

What do our Verses for Today tell us the lost world thinks of this? They blaspheme the name of God. They see the hypocrisy and come to believe that God doesn't make a difference in people's lives and many unbelievers wonder if God even exists at all.

Friends, if we claim to follow Jesus, then we must do it. The lost world knows quite a bit about Christianity and they know many of the standards we are to live by. And they are watching us to see if we live according to those standards.

So, take your pursuit of holiness seriously. People are watching. And where they spend eternity hangs in the balance.