May
the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
When we pray, asking God to
sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take
the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the
cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly
concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns.
Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means
to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s
purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for
which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to
separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify
Myself…” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the
experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of
sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with
Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really
prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which
is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up
into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say,
“Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that
we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John
17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the
unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything
which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy
Spirit’s work in us?
Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
It
is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he
does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the
lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
No comments:
Post a Comment