Take Time To Be Holy

“Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy guide,
and run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus, still trust in His word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive beneath his control.
Thus led by His spirit to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted for service above”

The words “holiness” and “holy living” can often seem “ethereal” or “unattainable” in our minds.  In the Old Testament, the Bible was very specific about the things the priest had to do to be “clean” or “holy” before entering into the temple, and there were certain ceremonial processes that took place to insure things in the temple had been sanctified.  I like this hymn because of some of the practical things we can do to live a “Holy” life.  The following phrases are worth commetning on:

• “Speak Oft with the Lord/Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone” – I like the thought of spending much time with the Lord in secret.  In our busy society today, there are many distractions that take our attention away from God.  It can be difficult at times to set time aside for the Lord, but no less critical.  Sometimes the “urgent” takes the place of the “important” in our lives, and these phrases are a good reminder of what our priority should be.

• “Feed on His Word” – Do we look to Scripture for our daily bread?  Do we partake of the wisdom and truth in the Word like we do physical food?  It is sad to say, but I have to be honest and tell you that I rarely miss a meal.  Is this true for you as well?  How about your spiritual meals – the study of the Word?  How many spiritual meals do you allow yourself to miss?

• “Run not before Him” – How hard it is not to get ahead of ourselves or get ahead of the Lord.  We can try to plan out a course of action, but not be as sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, and then we end up getting off the right path.  We are followers of Christ.  Followers of the actions He did on earth, and followers of the Spirit in our daily walk.

Paul reiterated these kinds of things in the closing remarks of many of his letters.  I particularly like his remarks at the end of I Thessalonians in Chapter 5 verse 13-19.  These verses also contain some very practical things that we can do as believers to walk the Christian walk and live a holy life.  Those verses include commands like “Live in peace with each other; Encourage the timid; Help the weak; Be patient with everyone; Be joyful always; Pray continually; Give thanks in all circumstances.”  These instructions are not necessarily easy to put into practice, but they are easy to understand and will help us live a more holy life, if we take the time to put them into practice.