APRIL 8, 2010

BE YE HOLY-

AND REPLACE

Scripture Reading - 1 Kings 18:25-30

Some assume that holy living is all negative. They falsely conclude that a holy way of life is a list of all the activities we can't do. Yet there's another dimension of holy living we cannot overlook. The principle of replacement means we not only "put off" but also "put on" ( Eph. 4:22-24 ).

In Luke 11, Jesus told the story of a man who had an unclean spirit ( vv. 24-26 ). The unclean spirit departed but eventually returned to find the "house" still unoccupied. Jesus said that the unclean spirit-actually a demon-returned with seven like himself, and "the last state of that man is worse than the first" ( v. 26 ). The basic application is this: The good will overcome the bad, the right will crowd out the wrong, and holiness will replace impurity.

A teen who destroys a secular music collection must replace it with sacred music. The family that eliminates the TV must develop new ways to fill their home with wholesome activity. The man who discontinues the input of lustful mental images must memorize and mediate on God's Word. Doing spiritual housecleaning is a wonderful spiritual step, but we must not stop there. We must aggressively pursue putting quality replacements into our lives.

In Ephesus, believers publicly burned items used in pagan worship ( Acts 19:18-19 ). The next verse says that the Word of God "mighty grew...and prevailed." The city became better not just because pagan worship was gone but because the worship of God had come. When Elijah repaired the altar of God, he put the altar of God in the place of the altar of Baal. At that point, the nation of Israel was ready to again acknowledge that God was truly God. The nation was again a holy nation.

EXERCISE: List three items that will keep your family focused on God and will cause you to think more of Him.

-Tom Palmer-