Take time to be holy. Speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends with God’s children; help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy. The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
William D. Longstaff was inspired by 1 Peter 1:16 which says, “Be holy, for I am holy” and penned the words to the well-known hymn “Take Time to Be Holy” in 1882. It’s hard for me to read the second verse and remember that the words were written 143 years ago! “The world rushes on…” Did the world really “rush on” in 1882? Our world certainly does today. We’re so mobile and our schedules are so hectic that it’s difficult to have an original, undisturbed thought, much less “take time to be holy”.
The apostle Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44 in his letter when he writes “Be holy, for I am holy”. The emphasis of both Leviticus and 1 Peter is that God’s people are different from the rest of the world. Sure, they work, eat, play, and put their pants on one leg at a time the same as the rest of the world, but they are different. Which begs the question – how? How are Christians different? How are they holy? How are they set apart from the rest of the world? Is it in the way they vote? A fish on the trunk of their cars or a catchy Christian bumper-sticker? Is it simply that they “go to church” once a week?
Longstaff’s hymn gives some great insight into how Christians are different from the world: they pray, meditate, read the Bible regularly, fellowship with other believers, and serve those in need. They recognize that God is in control of their lives and trust Him completely. But more crucial than any of these things is that Christians are different because they are called to emulate the life of Jesus. “By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.” “Be holy, for I am holy”. Jesus lived a life of service, of selflessness, of sacrifice. God calls His people to do the same.
This is a tall order! How can anyone do this? Well, it doesn’t happen all at once. The Christian life is a journey where a person matures in faith, trust, and holiness one small step at a time. I think that’s why Longstaff called his poem what he did. Instead of “Be Holy”, he called it “Take Time to Be Holy”. The more time you take, the more you mature in faith. The more you mature in faith, the more you become different from the world. The more you become different from the world, the holier you become. The holier you become, the more the world sees Jesus. “Be holy, for I am holy.”
