Joy Grows in Holiness

I recently finished Jerry Bridges' book, The Pursuit of Holiness, which is one of the best books I have read and certainly the best on the topic of holiness.  Briefly, Bridges exhorts believers to seek holy, disciplined lives.  Consequently, I have been thinking about holiness, not so much in terms of reading my Bible more, or praying more, or doing spiritual things; rather, I have been examining the sin in my life and considering what it says about my holiness.  Holiness is not an addition of Godly things to my life, or a subtraction of worldly things from my life, but rather a transformation of my life to look more like Christ.

The book has had somewhat of an unexpected effect upon me, I confess, as I think about my sin.  I have struggled with too many sins of the flesh to count, but one that consistently rises to the surface is gluttony.  I am either looking forward to my next binge, or eating in an over-controlled way.  Neither gluttony, nor overcontrol, represent godliness because in each instance, food remains the focus.  In fact, I am increasingly realizing that my obedience is not an issue regarding food at all--it is, I suppose, related to breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3). 

A surprising gift, I have discovered is that, with obedience comes joy.  Not only joy in pleasing the Father, but enjoyment of His good gifts as well.  Last night, we enjoyed a simple dinner of soup, bread, and cinnamon-chocolate dessert bread with good friends.  The flavor was amazing, yet I felt little desire to overeat. 

I am slowly realizing that obedience to Christ is great gain and with it comes a profound joy, not only in Christ, but also in His creation.