Highway to Holiness

 Isaiah 35:8 (NASB)

⁸  A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.

God travels the highway of holiness. It is a sacred road, an uncommon thoroughfare, and a clean path. God is a holy God. He is declared holy three times in [Isaiah 6:3] and also in [Rev 4:8]. God is set apart. He is not like us. He is uncommon. If we really desire to draw near to Him we must do so down the highway of holiness. There are no short cuts. No toll roads of convenience and compromise. 

The path to God is down a highway of holiness. I am not sure how seriously the church takes holiness these days. There is not much call for repentance of sin and to be holy as the Lord our God is holy. There are many attenders but are there true travelers down the highway of holiness. Of that I am not as certain. [I Pet 1:15-16] Church people blend in with the culture instead being set apart. Many Christians dress like the world, talk like the world, spend time like the Lord and prioritize things like the world. It would be easy to conclude just by observation that they are people of the world and not holiness. 

We are called to be uncommon people. Not weird. Just out of step with the world as we keep pace with God down the highway of holiness. The further we travel down this road the more we will increasingly feel a longing for eternity. We will also increasingly grow dissatisfied with the things of this world. We will see how fleeting and empty they are. God satisfies and we travel after Him in hot pursuit. 

The highway of holiness will lead us to our ultimate desire. God Himself. The unclean want nothing to do with this journey. They have polluted and defiled their lives with many things. They shun holiness. Holiness reminds people there is a standard of right and wrong. Holiness reminds people there is a God. It is far easier to ignore both and pursue paths of our own choosing making up our own rules. 

The unclean will face a day of reckoning. A day when an account must be made for their life called the Great White Throne Judgment.  The redeemed will face the Judgment Seat of Christ where our deeds will judged with fire. A holy God will deal with both in righteous judgment. The saved will escape the wrath of God by the blood of Jesus and amazing grace. There will be no such grace for the unsaved and unclean. I urge you with all my might, find the entrance ramp of Jesus to get onto the highway of holiness before you have to exit into eternity. You will find it a dead end to condemnation and wrath without Jesus.