We’ve been camping in the Southern Cape for years and, with a few exceptions, we always have the same neighbours. We’ve become good friends and our families know each other well.

One day, my son remarked how much one son was like his father and the other, like his mother. Not only in the way they looked, but the way they talked and acted too. Yes, many of us are reflected in our children. The good things, but sometimes also the not-so-good things.

Likewise, there must be things of God that are visible in His children. In fact, our way of living, the way we speak and act, yes, even our mannerisms, should reflect God.

It’s a command: ¹⁵As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

The day we heard the knock on the door and opened it for Jesus, Jesus came in with a package under His arm. It was almost like a surprise package with lots of gifts inside.

One of the gifts was a new status. We’ve now become part of Jesus’ family. He became our new Brother. Another gift was salvation. There were also gifts of grace, peace and love.

In the box there was also a note on which our calling was written. It was a call to live holy. It’s part of the package. We can’t take all the gifts and not read the letter and make it our own.

The calling is simple: be holy, live holy, act holy in everything you do, holy like your Father. Yes, just as our camp neighbours’ children reflect a lot of their parents, so we must also reflect our Father’s way of doing.

When we spend enough time with God, we will get to know Him. We will learn how He acts and speaks. Then it will rub off on us and we will act and speak accordingly.

God is different and it is precisely His holiness that makes Him different. We’re also different from the other people in the world. It is precisely our holiness that distinguishes us from the other people.

Very often we hear people of the world talking garbage. Even here where I sit in the tent, I can hear the people in a hut cursing loudly at the baboon scratching in the drum.

What good does it do to swear at a baboon? I grab my kettie and shoot a pebble in his direction. He quickly runs away. I suspect he’s going to tell his mates about the kettie, because it seems they’re quieter now.

Hear your calling again. Take it out of the surprise package again. Dust it off and hold onto it. Take care that your relationship with God is right so that some of His holiness can rub off on you and you can also live holy in the world.

Scripture
1 Peter 1:13-16

Reflection
Do you understand your calling?
Do you spend enough time with God?
Where do you need to become more holy?

Prayer
Father, I realise that I have a calling to live more holy. I also know that if I spend more time with You, I will become more holy. Please help me with Your Spirit living in me to follow Your Son’s example of holiness. I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.