Reason to Rise
Psalms 24:3-6 KJV Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? (4) He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (5) He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (6) This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
God hasn’t changed, and the way to the holy life He requires has not changed in the least. He is completely uncompromising in His excellence and will not allow any who is unclean in their living to hang out with Him- even on the outskirts or on the doorsteps. It would seem, then, that striving for holiness should be the passion and the pursuit.
While the nature of man hasn’t changed either, there has been an ever-increasing amount of world-fashioned gods that are quite attractive in their lure. The perception of their true colors has also been skewed in a world where right and wrong have been placed in the hands of those who have no connection whatsoever to the only One who really knows what that means. Where certain things would at one time have been clearly considered to be evil and wrong, it has become acceptable to embrace murder, infidelity, perversion, and substance abuse in the name of ‘well look at everyone else- including ‘so-and-so’ who’s doing it’. Even in the name of helping the seekers in their journey to worshiping the Holy One, there is the presentation of the very gods who oppose Him as if they are acceptable and justifiable at some point along that journey. Cloaked in humor and romantic passion, the very scenarios and stories that capture the desire for entertainment and faithful devotion of emotion, money, and time are based on subjects driven by agendas far removed from any encouragement of a Christ- centered life of holiness. Adultery, homosexuality, brutality, violence, profanity, and characters committed to a spirit world of demonic and blood sucking bastardization of love have made a complete and total mockery of what should really be unacceptable to all. Murder has been embraced by a society that justifies anything in the name of personal choice and right. Yet, the way to the holy place has never changed and will never include any of these man-made gods as a means of getting there.
The difficulty with understanding this truth, however, comes when the determination of what is right is left in the realm of debate and reason. As long as something can be given a good enough reason- ‘you know, it’s really not all that bad’, ‘so and so did that, so this can’t be all that bad either’, ‘you have to be like them and talk their language in order to reach them’, ‘this is the realm of grace, and God understands my heart’, ‘I have a personal relationship with God, and no one is going to tell me what I can or cannot do’- then it is justified and given a stamp of acceptability. As long as the terms used to validate an action exclude any reference to passion for the Holy One Himself, there will ever be a justifiable path to the precipice of eternal damnation. Just like King Saul, who determined that he could justify doing things the way that seemed right to him, apart from any fear of the One from whom the directive came to destroy everything, his very soul was put in eternal peril because he kept the debate in the realm of reason and not relationship.
It is really a very simple matter, and the key to this simplicity is found in the last verse of the given passage. As long as being right is left to reason, there will be no possibility of standing in the presence of the Holy One. As long as there is more passion about validating one of His opposing gods than uncompromisingly pleasing Him, there is only the option of eternal separation from Him. The debate is brought to a conclusion every time the only way to His side is presented- seeking Him, and seeking His face alone. In the amazing glow of His glory, all other gods will become less than dispensable, while all passion they once demanded will be lost in the all-consuming desire for His realm and His place. Everything changes in the light of His glory where all energy and faithful pursuit are shifted from the temporal realm requiring reason based justification to the realm of righteousness that requires no validation. The path and the journey become unclear and unstable where any consideration other than Him is given credence.
He still requires clean hands and a pure heart, and it is still in single pursuit of His face that purity will be understood and embraced. It will become fruit in a life that is truly free from any law. The heart that is held in His hands can be possessed by no other.
Galatians 5:18-25 KJV But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (24) And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.