This is a favorite hymn of my wife’s. She says it is a sermon in a song. I agree with her and so I thought why not take a look at it.
One of the things that strikes me at the onset is that the title suggests that being holy requires some effort on our part. This is in harmony with the statement made by Peter in his first book, chapter one and verse sixteen. “You shall be holy for I am holy.” That is better explained in the previous verse where Peter tells us to “be holy ourselves in all our behavior”.
While it is true that holiness comes from God, certainly we play a part. We can’t all be the woman Paul mentions in 1 Cor. 7:34, who can be holy in body and spirit due to her celibacy but we can made the make the effort to control our lives in such a way as to make the state of holy possible.
To be holy is to be set apart for a divine purpose. In one sense this is an act of God but at the same time we can make a conscious effort to set ourselves apart from the world and concentrate on that which is holy and divine. It will not happen by accident. The song title reminds us that we have to be deliberate in our effort. Study, prayer, worship, life choices, are activities we can take time to participate in.
Christians, like the rest of the world, are busy people. Everyone has a problem finding enough time to get everything done. Take a look at your schedule today. Did you put in a time slot to work on holiness? Is there time for prayer in your schedule, reading and studying the word, bowing down before the most high and showing his grace to others?
