God's Holiness in Everyday Life

The holiness of God should leave us weeping and rejoicing at the same time. If you stand before the throne of our perfectly holy God, you will have reason for both. I am persuaded this is why we are called to both of these responses in Scripture and why they are both important pieces of a spiritually healthy life. God's word calls us to mourn, actually pronouncing blessing on those who do (Matt. 5:4). How could you stand before the holiness of God and not weep at the condition of your own heart and the sin everywhere in your world? God's word also calls us to rejoice (1 Thess. 5:16-18). When we gaze upon the holiness of God, we have reason to rejoice. How unshakable is your joy, when you wake up each day knowing that your world is under the rule of the one who is perfectly holy in every way, all the time, and that this Holy One is your Father by grace?

So, weep! Your Lord is holy. Don't stop rejoicing! Your Lord is holy. Live the life of a sad celebrant. Mourn the ways that you are far from the holy goal God has set for you, while you rejoice in the potential you now have to be what you could have never dreamed of being if this Holy One had not met you with his heart-and life-transforming grace. May your tears mix with joy until you are on the other side with him and like him forever and ever.