Holiness - Getting Your Priorities in Order

Do you have daily "intimate" fellowship with God? A life of holiness in the believer demands a life of priority, precedence, and first preference for God, such as with David, "a man after God's own heart."

David was consumed with a love and deep passion for God, "Oh God, thou art my God: Early will I seek You, My soul thirsts for You, My flesh longs for You, in a dry and thirsty land, Where there is no water." Psalm 63:1-2

Developing Christian character is a work of establishing set order in our lives. The worship of God is a spiritual discipline that exhibits the values of living holy. Spending quality time in the presence of God is how David expressed his passion.

It was the "one thing" in his day that took precedence in his life, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His tabernacle." Psalm 27:4.

The Disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and He gave them the whole spiritual dynamic written in Matthew 6, "Give us this day, our daily bread...." The focal point is that EACH DAY, God wants to have daily fellowship with us; not a casual, materialistic, lop-sided, one-dimensional relationship, but an intimate DAILY fellowship of spending time together in His presence.

He has so much that he wants to give to us, yet He does not bestow all of it upon us up front, else we would not come back. What we need will fall into place when we get our priorities in order.

How else will God know our passion if we do not spend time with Him? Like David, our example, God desires intimacy and a purposeful relationship with His children. How would you feel if a stranger asked to borrow your car? A red flag would check you immediately and you probably would respond, "Hey, I don't know you like that!"

That is the way some people treat God -- too casual, too complacent, and not making a reasonable investment in building a relationship with Him. God comes where He is celebrated. When we pursue His presence, it shows God how much we value a relationship with Him.

Getting closer to God is tantamount to holiness in our Christian walk. We are too needy a people who require God's provisions for our daily survival. This fact was demonstrated in the lives of the children of Israel who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years when God's supply never ran out.

Each day was a total dependence on the Lord to send them fresh manna from heaven for their daily nourishment. No one suffered lack and no one needed to be greedy. God made enough manna every day for everyone. Yet, if anyone horded the manna overnight, it provoked God to send worms to eat it up so the people would learn the basic principle of dependence on Him and His grace for their daily survival.

God's sustaining provisions daily load us with benefits.
Living holy is a conscious act of discipline and a priority to make Him first in our lives.

by: Dr. Zachary Tims, Jr.

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