Holiness Rainbow

     "Look grandma," Zoey, 5, pointed across the pasture as I drove. "It's a rainbow!"
     "Wow," I said, acknowledging God's glory etched across the sky. "It's beautiful."
     "Let's go find the end of it!" she said.

     "We can't Zoey," I explained. "If we try, it will disappear. We can only see the rainbow now because sunlight is reflecting off raindrops."
      "We need to find the end, grandma," Zoey insisted. "There might be gold there."

 I couldn't convince her, so I used distraction, a powerful tool that stops our search for the impossible.
     "We're almost to town, Zoey. Do you want to go to the farm store and buy something for your cat?" 
She conceded.

The rainbow glistened strong for another mile and I pondered the myth of gold. Futility and chasing after wind. I felt the same way in church the evening before. During worship, I sang along with the others quietly:

          Lord, make me your servant, help me do Your will, I desire to live holy...  

     Me holy? My personal holiness felt as tangible as a rainbow and just as fleeting. The song continued:

          Lord, help me love You, teach me Your ways, So I can live like Jesus...

     Me live like Jesus? Finding gold seemed more likely. I'm so many things He is not. I grumble and complain over the stuff we have and the stuff we don't have. Jesus says, "Do not fear," yet I am weary from worry more often than not. And I lose sight of the thin line that separates gossip from sharing. Are those really prayer requests I pass on or spiritual germs I need to take to God?

     Holiness, an impossible pursuit, especially if our word is the last word. Thank God His Word holds authority over ours.        
           Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all 
          defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). 


     That brings us back to the hidden treasure, fear of God. As we pursue it, other treasures will unfold. God alone is holy yet He says when we see Him face to face we'll be like Him. (1John 3:2) Only by His grace can we grow more like Him each day. Even if the changes are too small for us to see, they don't escape His notice. As we continue to seek His guidance and yield to it, holiness can increase this side of heaven.  

As gold values climb close to $1,500 an ounce, wouldn't we like to find some at the end of a rainbow, but such dreams vanish along with the bow.Thank God for offering us attainable treasure. And though some days it feels like He's hidden His holiness from us, in truth He has hidden it for us.