Isaiah 35:8 It will be called the way of holiness

• DAY 17 BIBLE READING

Acts 27-Romans 5


• DAY 17 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:8

PRACTICAL HOLINESS

Dallas Willard says salvation is not just a decision, it is a life, a way of life. He asks ‘Why do we look upon salvation as a moment that began our religious life rather than as the daily life we receive from God.He says ‘A close look at Jesus’ ‘great acts’ of humility, faith and compassion recorded in the Gospel narratives finds them to be moments in a life pervasively and deeply characterized by solitude fasting and prayer and service. Surely then the lives of his followers must be just as deeply characterized by the same practices.’

John Wesley was deeply impacted by “Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ.’( After the Bible possibly the most widely read book in the world). In the opening lines, Thomas a Kempis says –'He who follows me can never walk in darkness, says the Lord. By these words, Christ urges us to mould our lives and characters in the image of his, if we wish to be truly enlightened and freed from all blindness of heart. Let us therefore see that we endeavour beyond all else to meditate on the life of Christ’

As Wesley sought to mould his life in the image of Christ and to be freed from blindness of heart, he began to form 'band meetings' which focussed on practical holiness, encouraging confession of sin and radical accountability in small groups. As we pray that Lord would open up the wells of salvation in our nation once again as he did in the Methodist awakening in the eighteenth century, lets pray also for wells of salvation to be opened in us.


• Proverbs 20:5 says ‘The thoughts of a man's heart are like a deep well.’ Lord help me to share deeply concerning the thoughts of my heart. Where my Christian life is a façade, give me the courage to be open and honest, and where I have blindspots, free me from all blindness of heart. Conform me into your image Lord, as I follow you and your way of life.

Willard, D The Spirit of the disciplines 28, 29