There Is No Try!

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

Last night I read this verse and I got all excited! Then I read it again a few times, it just really spoke to me, and I live it when a verse does that. See it's the part where it says "Make every effort to be holy." Make every effort- that means with every fiber of your being, with every ounce of breath, do what you can to be holy. It doesn't say "try to be holy" or "do your best, it will be okay." It says to make every effort to be holy. And why is that? Because we need to become holy. That is one of the purposes of this journey of life- it's to become more like Jesus every day. Our goal is to become as holy and righteous as possible so that we may see God. We need that holiness to spend eternity in His presence. Jesus made holiness and righteousness possible when he died for us.

There is no try. When I fail, when I falter in my quest to become holy, I need to treat it as such. I need to rebuke the evil spirits that are tempting me- I need to do whatever it takes to rid myself of sin. If I am sinning by watching too much television, I need to get rid of the television. If my sin is taking too much drink, I need to eliminate it from the house. If my sin is with regards to the internet and un-wholesome viewing, I need to get rid of the internet. In essence, I need to regard sin as exactly what it is- an unholy black mark upon my being, and I need to cleanse myself of that black mark and never do it again. When I am tempted beyond measure, I need to change my mindset, I need to stop thinking that it's okay one more time- I can worry about the consequences later. Instead, I need to repent before I even sin. I need to repent for even thinking about it and ask the Holy Spirit to help me resist. And I need to grab my Bible. For the truth will set me free.

I will not try anymore, I will just do. I pray that God's word will fill me to bursting and that I will have the words I need to resist the temptation. Nothing eliminates sin faster than a few well-recited scripture verses. Jesus resisted temptation from the devil by quoting God's Word to him. A step towards holiness is learning to do the same. I pray that the more time I spend in His Word, the more it will cling to my mind and be there, ready and waiting. And I pray that this would not just be for me, but for my entire household, and for those I hold dear to me. Because I want to spend eternity with ALL those I love, not just a select few. We can all strive for holiness, each and every day.