May 18, 2011

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

So, who wants to see God?

Wouldn't that be nice? Those of us who are people of faith, make a total commitment to surrender to and serve Someone we have never seen. He is as real to us as people we know and see and visit with every day.

But, no one has ever seen Him. Adam did until he disobeyed, Moses came close, but no one can say they have seen God with their physical eyes. Many people of faith have seen the work of His hands through miracles and transformed live, but they have not seen God with their eyes.

Through and regular and disciplined study of His Word you can get a good mental picture of Who He is, but it is not like seeing Him with our eyes.

So, given how real He has become to us, and how intimately we have come to know Him and how we visualize Him in our minds, wouldn't it be nice to lay eyes on Him?

The writer of Hebrews firmly states that unless a person is holy that person will not see God. It requires a holy heart to be able to lay eyes on Him.

You may be thinking, "Brad, that verse is referring to seeing God when we get to Heaven."

Certainly, that IS true. But I don't think it is complete. I think it means more because I don't think we can clearly see God in this life until we are made holy. Anyone who is holding on to sin and who is tolerating sinfulness will not be able to have a clear vision of what God is really like. Jesus came to show the love and power of God and the Holy Spirit leads us to His truth and into His presence. So, in our mind and spirit, we are able to get a glimpse of what God is like. In our holy mind and spirit we will see God more clearly. Paul wrote to the Corinthians "now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face".

So, if you aspire to see Him face-to-face some day, you better make sure you are walking in holiness! Holiness allows you to see Him as he is.

Are you living in holiness?

Are you loving in Holiness?

Have you repented of your sins?

Have you renounced sin in your life?

Are you walking in righteousness?