Practical Godliness
Luke 1:74: That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
Titus 2:11: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
This is an excerpt from Dr. Robert A. Cook*s book, Today With The King. You can subscribe to his daily devotional readings and listen to his 15-minute radio broadcast at the website by copying and pasting this into your address bar: www.walkwiththeking.org
1 Timothy 4:7: Exercise thyself... unto godliness. Also read verses 1 through 16.
We have already looked at the importance of demonstrating Christ in daily life. The verses that follow in this passage continue that emphasis: *Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity* (4:12).
To oversimplify the word, godliness means that God is walking in our shoes and manifesting Himself in *the ordinaries of life.* It means we will be like God when we*re washing the dishes, cleaning out the garage, putting up the storm windows, or taking care of the baby. It means we will be like God when we drive the car or when we talk with fellow family members. (We seem to reserve the right to be impertinent to the most precious and important people in our lives—our family. We often treat them with much less courtesy than we treat total strangers. Shame on us!)
*Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come* (4:8). Your life and mine will be meaningful in direct proportion to the amount of eternity we build into them. Many of us have a little motto on our wall that says: *Only one life, *twill soon be past; only what*s done for Christ will last.* We know this truth in an intellectual sense; we need to put it into practice by a conscious daily commitment of all that we are and have to our blessed Lord.
Small thought here. The measure of whether or not you are a model of godliness will be reflected more by what you are on Main Street of your life than by how you stack up in your round of religious duties.
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