The Beauty of Holiness -- Part I

Returning to Kansas City from Camas, Washington, a few days ago, I boarded a plane at Portland, Oregon.  We came by way of Denver, Colorado.  Early in the evening we came down over the Rockies into Denver.  The skies were clear and the atmosphere was free from fog and smoke.  This made it possible for the lights of the city to be seen in one sweep.  As our big plane descended slowly, we had plenty of time before landing to view them.  They were in great abundance and of every description-fiery, red, yellow, bluish-green, orange, pink, and many other shades.  Also, many of them could be seen, not as haphazardly placed, but as arranged according to certain patterns.

This unusual sight of a city at night gave me a new thought as to the beauty of holiness.  In this scene, spread out before my eyes on that beautiful night, there were variety, color, order, and dignity-fitting characteristics for the description of the beauty of holiness.

The holy life has variety.  It isn’t monotonous; it isn’t a single lane, or single-street affair; sameness doesn’t rule it.  It has the power of manifesting itself in a variety of ways, of getting out on a person in many different forms.  Holiness is an actual experience, and it is a life.  It has both intellectual and emotional content.  It is Godlike, and yet it is possessed by a human being.  It can sing, and it can pray.  If you want a full and varied life, get sanctified wholly.  If you want a limited, stingy existence, retain the carnal mind and go only part of the way with God.  A full life, a glorious life, a blessed life, a varied life, come by going all-out for God, by consecrating your all to Him.

But the beauty of holiness also has color.  One may ask, but what does this stand for?  It signifies quality, character.  If you are saved and sanctified, you are not living a colorless life, a life which doesn’t stand for anything, a life that has no backbone, a life that is childish or largely undeveloped.  If you have been cleansed from inbred sin, the image of God has been restored within and there is color in your life.  It stands out and up; it has meaning for those who come in touch with you.

The third characteristic of life of holiness which makes it beautiful is symmetry, or order.  Such a life has system to it; it is not dominated by haphazardness.  Holiness is related to all parts of life-physical, mental, and spiritual; and all parts of life are related to it.  Life is not lopsided; it is well rounded.  There is a proper place for prayer, for churchgoing, for giving, for witnessing, for fellowship, for glory, for blessing, for joy, for sacrifice.  And the wonder of all this is that these various activities work together for good; they are one, and none can be given up, or eliminated, or encroached upon.  The beauty of holiness means that the life which is lived wholly for God has symmetry, or order.

--Stephen S. White