Some of you familiar with our local church know that we have bible study, or Prayer & Bible Band, on Tuesday evenings. This type of bible study format is one of the traditional auxiliaries in our denomination.
The format is pretty straight-forward. The attendees gather and pray for a “season” and then we go into our separate bible study groups (adults, young adults, teens, children, etc.). However, this past Tuesday evening something different happened. As we were concluding the prayer (or so we thought), the Spirit of the Lord came in and we literally couldn’t stop praying. It appeared as though a mighty spiritual wind swept through the room and we were simply “caught up” in a beautiful spirit of prayer, praise and worship.
As the saints were worshipping, the Spirit of the Lord reminded me that He was in control of every service, and as a holiness church, we must be careful not to lose our identity as holy, righteous and peculiar people.
God covenanted with Abraham and his descendants that He would be their God and they would be His people. He told them that He bless them, prosper them and through them all of the nations would be blessed. However, He warned them about serving other gods.
The concept of worshipping only one god was not widely accepted in that day. In fact every nation, accept Israel, worshipped multiple gods: sun god, moon god, god of fertility, god of war, god of the sea, etc. Israel was different. If they needed rain, they prayed to Jehovah! If they had a battle, they prayed to Jehovah! When Hannah wanted a child, she prayed to Jehovah! The God of Israel could do anything!
Something happened to Israel. By the time we get to I Samuel, Israel tells the prophet that they wanted a king like all of the other nations. It wasn’t as though God had stopped protecting, providing, and working miracles for them. They just wanted to be like the people who weren’t like God!
I Peter 2:9 tells us that we as God’s people should not be like anyone else. We should not blend in with ungodly people. We should not have a desire to emulate, unbelievers or pattern our lives after them. We turn the other cheek, we pray for our enemies and love everyone, and we don’t harbor ill will or hatred.
So how do we maintain our holiness identity? We did just as the saints at Holiness Tabernacle did the other night: we live righteously, we make room for the Spirit by presenting ourselves for worship, and we yield to Him whenever He decides to appear. In the words of my old Sunshine Band song, we let our light so shine.
My friends, be encouraged. We don’t have to become like other people to get ahead or achieve anything noteworthy in this life. Let’s keep on patterning our lives after Jesus. Let’s continue to live lives that are hidden in Him. We may not be invited to the party, we may not get the raise, but our God shall supply all our needs by His riches in glory!
I bless you in the name of the Lord!