1 Thessalonians 3:13
... so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Devotional Thoughts
By David Wilkerson
I believe every episode or story in the Old Testament is full of truth for New Testament believers. Whenever I have difficulty understanding a New Testament truth, I turn back to its foreshadowing in the Old Testament. One such example concerns Moses at the burning bush. I believe this particular story is full of profound New Testament truth regarding holiness.
Alone on Mount Horeb, Moses was herding the sheep of his father-in-law when suddenly a strange sight caught his attention. A nearby bush was burning brightly — yet it was not consumed!
“Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush” (Exodus 3:3-4). Going in for a closer look, Moses heard God call out to him from the bush — living proof that God was present, a visual representation of His holiness. Indeed, wherever He is, that place is holy!
“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). In other words, “It is written, recorded, settled once and for all that we are to be holy, even as our God is holy.”
“For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). God has not called us just to salvation, or to heaven, or to receive His pardon. Rather, these are benefits of our one true call — which is to be holy as He is holy.
Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to be holy — to be pure and blameless in God’s sight. So, if you have been born again, holiness must be the cry of your heart: “God, I want to be like Jesus. I truly want to walk holy before You all the days of my life.”