Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (ESV)

Our entire lives are but a journey toward eternal life in heaven. There are many perils along the way and fierce battles but this chapter calls us to not grow weary or fainthearted. We are called to strive for peace and holiness. If we were only called to peace, we could accept anything, but we are also called to holiness, so we have a divine standard for our lives. God knows how hard it is to make for peace when people desire war, but try anyway. Bring peace in your world as much as it depends on you and God will honor your effort. Also, be holy by separating yourself from the things of the world. Relevance doesn’t mean compromise. You can still love sinners while remaining separate. Ask for wisdom and God will show you the way. We want to see the Lord in the clouds but without peace and holiness no one will see the Lord. Let us strive to have these things in abundance by the power of the Holy Spirit as we allow it to work fully in our lives.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV)

In the Old Testmanet, the glory of God caused the people to tremble with fear. God, in His mercy allows us to draw near to Him through Christ but that is not because His holiness somehow has decreased. We are to be grateful for His mercy but never fail to understand that we are to come before God with reverence and awe. His is the only everlasting kingdom and it cannot be shaken. Everything will one day fade but God alone will remain because He is from eternity past. He is also a consuming fire and He requires our lives to be found as acceptable worship. Christ’s sacrifice empowers us to bring our lives as an appropriate sacrifice that God’s holy fire will consume for His glory.