A little bit of search engine work and I find out the song is now 30 years old. How I remember the emotion it so often stirred within the heart as we sung it. Even as it comes to mind this morning, there’s a fond, familiar flame kindled.

Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness, holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what You want from me.
(Take My Life, Scott Underwood)

Holiness is what I long for . . . We sang it. We sang it heartily. We sang it meaningfully. But I wonder if all too often we might have sung it naively. Hebrews reminds me this morning that to sing the song is to welcome the realities of sin and suffering.

Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

       “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
              nor be weary when reproved by Him.
       For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
              and chastises every son whom He receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

(Hebrews 12:3-7, 10b-11 ESV)

Longing for holiness? Then we’re inviting discipline. The discipline of hardships resulting from sin. The hardships brought on through the overall effect of sin on our fallen world, such as sickness and death. The difficulties brought on through our own foolishness as we yield to sin. When received as the Father’s discipline, it’s the endurance of sin and suffering which allows us to share His holiness.

Sharing in His holiness . . . That’s the good able to come out of all our difficulties, through all our storms, and in all our sorrows. The good of knowing His holiness as our neediness propels us towards pursuing His rest, longing for His comfort, asking for His strength, and relying on His grace. We need Him so we seek Him. We seek Him and so we find Him. We find Him and so we share in Him. And in Him we share His holiness.

The prize is always Jesus, the Holy Son of God. He is the peaceful fruit of righteousness that comes to those who have been trained by difficulties.

And so, we keep on keepin’ on.

Though sometimes it seems like we’re just hanging on by our fingernails, if we endure — and that too only by His grace — then we will look back and realize that more than just surviving, we were in fact thriving. The holiness we longed for, a bit more evident. The holiness we need, a bit more present. The holiness He wants from me, His holiness — the holiness of the Vine showing up as fruit in the branches abiding in Him.

Be careful what you sing, you might just end up with more “discipline” than you wanted. But don’t stop singing. To share His holiness is worth it all.

By His grace. For His glory.