He who called you is holy

1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV)

15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

The grace of God in calling a sinner is a powerful engagement to holiness. It is a great favour to be called effectually by divine grace out of a state of sin and misery into the possession of all the blessings of the new covenant; and great favours are strong obligations; they enable as well as oblige to be holy. [Matthew Henry]

Craig C. had been an alcoholic for more than a dozen years. He'd lost everything he had, including his wife and son, due to his selfishness and addiction. Things began to change after he gave his life to Christ, but he still fell regularly into his old habits. It didn't help that he'd lost his well-paying job and was clerking at a local grocery store that was well stocked with all his favorite drinks. After a few years of going back and forth between Christ and the bottle, he finally cut the ties, and, out of obedience to Christ, quit his job.

With no income and hope only in Christ, he was in desperate condition. After an interview with a sheet metal company down the street from his new church, he cried out to God. "God, if you give me this job I will give you my first paycheck." Surprisingly, he got the job.

He clearly remembers the day when he got his first paycheck. Stacks of bills needed to be paid. Penniless but determined, he endorsed it over to the church and walked it to the church office without waiting for the Sunday offering. That was the moment, he says, that changed his life because now he understood what it meant to trust God.

As of today, Craig has been sober for 25 years, he's a manager at that sheet metal company, and he serves as an elder at his local church. [Bill White, pastor of outreach at Emmanuel Reformed Church in Paramount, California]

In Psalm 99:9, the psalmist says, “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem,    for the Lord our God is holy!”

Sometimes it takes a while for a Christian to grasp the meaning of being holy. On occasions it takes some a lifetime and for some there is an immediate noticeable transformation. Where ever we are in our Christian lives, let us remember to exalt The Lord our God for He is Holy! As we praise God for His holiness we become aware of the changes we may need in our lives.

Craig C. above realized what it meant to trust God for God is Holy and keeps His promises.  It was then he realized he needed to keep his own promises. It changed Craig C.’s life and realizing the holiness of God and Christ can change our lives too.