March 28

Read: Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people (Psalms 116:14).

What Do I Owe My Church?

Am I a member of a holiness church? If so I have a moral obligation to maintain the blessing of heart holiness. To do less than this is to accept spiritual blessings without doing my part to maintain them. We who have shared in the message of full salvation cannot glorify God by living on a lower level. We cannot honestly discharge our moral responsibility to Christ and to a sinful world if forgiveness is all of God’s grace to which we can bear witness.

As we joined the church, we listened to a godly pastor deliver this charge: “Dearly Beloved: The privileges and blessings which we have in association together in the Church of Jesus Christ are very sacred and precious. There is in it such hallowed fellowship as cannot otherwise be known.” As we presented ourselves to share in that fellowship, the pastor continued: “It is necessary that we be of one mind and heart… We believe… that after the work of regeneration, there is the further work of heart cleansing, or entire sanctification, which is effected by the Holy Ghost… Do you heartily believe these truths? Desiring to unite with the Church… do you covenant to… seek earnestly to perfect holiness of heart and life in the fear of the Lord?” We answered, “I do.”

If we are not now enjoying the blessing of heart holiness or if we are not earnestly seeking for it, we need to ask ourselves in all seriousness, What have I done with the vows that I made before God and my friends of the church?

Prayer For Today

O God, I do remember my vow to Thee and to my church. I do now join in the sincere prayer of another child of God, “I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people” (Psalms 116:14).