August 8

Read: Isaiah 35:8-10

An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness (Isaiah 35:8).

Holiness Is A Way

“One of the most challenging descriptions of the life of holiness is given by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in his word picture of ‘The way of holiness.’ He says some remarkable things about this way. It is a way which runs through the reclaimed desert, part of God’s great ‘reclamation project’ which began with the coming of Christ (w. 3-7). It is a clean way, for ‘the unclean shall not pass over it.’ It is a plain way wherein wayfaring men need not err. It is a safe way, for lions and ravenous beasts are excluded. It is a way for the redeemed to walk. It is a joyous way. And it is a homeward way.

“But underlying all of this is the simple yet striking idea that many of us seem to have missed. It is a way. Instead of a place to be reached, holiness is a way to be traveled. Rather than our entrance being a termination or an end, it is a starting point. Holiness is not a milestone to be passed, but a growing life to be lived.

“It is appalling to find people who have professed the sanctifying grace of God for years who are less spiritual than they were a week after their initial victory. Prayer holds less victory for them. The Bible is still largely a closed Book. The fellowship of other Christians has little attraction. Public worship is more social than spiritual. Service is more drudgery than delight. They are clean but not keen, religious but not radiant, good but not godly” (W. T. Purkiser).

My soul, be on thy guard; Ten thousand foes arise; The hosts of sin are pressing hard

To draw thee from the skies.

— George Heath