“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’”
~Matthew 6:9
Do you want to be relevant to your world or holy in it? Relevance is simply blending with the world you live—a chameleon. Holiness is becoming a light to your dark world—a contrarian
God’s plan is for you is to become the best version of you every day, compounded over time. You don’t need to be relevant but holy as He is holy. Relevance without holiness nothing less than heresy.
If you are an irreligious man, you may be wondering, “Can I be a good man and not follow Jesus?” Absolutely. You can be a great man and not follow Jesus. Any man who disagrees needs to climb out from under his rock.
But tragically I know a huge amount of “Christian” guys that aren’t men. Some of my irreligious friends supersede them in every way—by far. This is a paradox I don’t understand. How can a professing Christian choose a life of total defeat and never get the traction needed to live victoriously? How can he refuse to repent, change, and grow? How can he reject loving, giving, and serving others?
These guys remain males in adult bodies—mere children. We regularly see the collateral damage of “Christian” males who fall short of manhood, leaving a wake of destruction as a trophy to their sin.
Yes, you can be a good, even great, man and not follow Jesus. But you won’t be your best version without radical devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. How can you be? Without total devotion to your Creator. you’ll never reach the apex of your potential even if you achieve greatness. And if you get close, you’ll credit yourself and ignore the God who equipped you. You’ll merely be a shadow of the best you.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “hallowed (or holy) be your name”. But God—as holy—cannot be any more holy. It’s simply who He is. So why did Jesus teach us to pray in such an odd way? Commentator William Barclay believed this statement meant, “(God), enable us to give Thee the unique place in which Thy nature and character, deserves and demands.”
The Hebrew word for “name” is not used to identify a person, but reflect the character and nature of that man. Your name identified the type of man you were which is why honoring your family’s name was such a big deal (and still is in my family).
We should pray this section of the Lord’s Prayer something like this, “Lord may the way I live show the world your true character and nature. Put me on display that I may put you on display. Let my life make your name holy. Let my life be a light in the shadow-lands!”
Surrender your life to Jesus Christ now. Ask Him to illuminate your path that you might be a light in a dark place. Become a whole man. Become the best version of you.
