John 17:17 – Sanctify them by “Your” truth. Your word is truth.
The state of being sanctified, purified, or made holy; conformity of the heart and life to the will of God.
I don’t know about my other brothers and sisters in the Lord, but there are some days that I ‘wonder’ if the Lord is doing much in my life. We live, we work, we are busy, we do our best to please God as much as we can, we read the Bible as much as we can, we pray as much as we can, we go to church as often as we can … we live and move and have our being in Christ as best we can, etc.! But, sometimes I just don’t see much difference, and I know there’s always room to be more like our Heavenly Father.
After church today, we were talking about TV shows that we watch, and I told them about something that happened with one of my favorite TV series. I really liked the actors, I liked the plot of the series, and I was never convicted by the Holy Spirit about watching it.
Well, I watched one of the episodes last week, and I really wasn’t that much into it, but didn’t think a thing about it. I watched another episode this week, and I had maybe gotten into the show about 5 minutes, and I knew that I knew I didn’t want to watch it anymore. I was done. I deleted the show and deleted the series so it wouldn’t be recorded anymore. A change of heart and mind concerning the show had happened. It was a less than wholesome show that I would no longer be watching.
This maybe doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but it does show from my perspective that the Lord cares about the ‘little’ things in our lives, and He wants to and will change us. I don’t know about you, but I want Him to change me in any area that needs shaped up, sharpened, and fine tuned!
No longer wanting to watch the TV show was not a painful exercise in change…it was simply a sudden one that I didn’t even realize had happened until the new season had begun. When I told my son, he was surprised because he knew I was a die hard fan of the program; however, there was no effort whatsoever. Sure, I could have continued watching it, could have kept recording it, but when I realized I didn’t want to anymore, I was simply willing to flow with the change instead of trying to resist it.
Some of us resist change the Holy Spirit is working in our lives, the sanctifying work of God.
Are there times you really don’t want to smoke a cigarette, read an ornery or sensual book, look at a scantily clad man or woman, drink a beer, smoke a joint, watch a TV show, or whatever else it might be in your life? If there is something in your life that you find yourself not wanting to do it, that may be the Holy Spirit wanting to change you…flow with it! Embrace His change and work. Don’t resist His sanctifying work…it will always be for our good.
Sanctification is still alive and well, and it still works on behalf of the sons and daughters of God! Praise God!