"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:16-17
When I lived in California, we used to have to weed our lawn frequently. We'd get out there, and we'd pull them and pull them. And if you didn't get them by the root, they'd grow back. Sometimes it seemed like they grew back anyway. And it's funny how the weeds seem to grow so much faster than the plants you really want in your yard. If you want to maintain a good yard or garden, how long will you have to pull weeds? Will one weeding a season do the trick? No! You're going to have to plan on pulling weeds for the rest of your life. I was getting pretty tired of continually weeding, and one day a neighbor came along, looked at my lawn and said, "Bob, why don't you grow some good grass -- that'll take care of those weeds." And he was right. Here's what happens when you grow good grass --it chokes out the weeds. They die off, replaced by the lush green grass. In the spiritual life, this preoccupation with weeds is desert religion -- it's a continual preoccupation with sin -- and it's a backbreaking, never-ending job. But to be preoccupied with growing good grass is like walking in grace and freedom. The goal of the Christian life is not to pull weeds -- to stop sinning. God calls us to walk by faith in Him. As we do, the result is that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The weeds are crowded out! So what do you want to do, pull weeds the rest of your life--or grow grass? To be in bondage -- or to walk in freedom?
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification..." 1 Thessalonians 4:3
"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:17
The word sanctified comes from the same root word as "holy.' It means to be "set apart." It's not - as we often think - full of negative connotations, such as, "I'm sanctified and that means I've got my Bible under my arm and I walk with my head tilted to one side and kind of grin and act real holy with people." That's not what sanctified means at all. It's an extremely practical word. Sanctification means to be set apart for the specific purpose for which something is created. For example, if you're wearing shoes today, you're "sanctifying" your shoes. You're using shoes for the purpose for which they were created. Shoes were made for your feet. If you've got them on your feet, you're sanctifying your shoes. If you were to hang them on your ear as a new kind of earring, you wouldn't be sanctifying them. If you wear eyeglasses, you're sanctifying them as you wear them. You're using them for the purpose for which they were created. They were created to help you see. You've got them on -- you're seeing better--you're sanctifying your glasses. If you stir your coffee with them, you're not sanctifying your glasses. If you're wearing a watch and you glance at the time, in so doing you're sanctifying your watch. If you use your watch to crack peanuts, you're not sanctifying your watch. When you're sanctified by faith, it means that as a person has exercised faith in Jesus, you've been set apart from the entire world that does not believe in Jesus. It doesn't mean that you wear your hair in a bun. It means that you've been set apart by God because of your relationship with Jesus. It means that you've been set apart for the intelligent purpose for which you were created--to be available to the living God for Him to live His life through you. And yet because we don't believe that God has done His work completely, we continue to try to progressively sanctify ourselves by the way we dress, by the way we act, and by the way we speak. We make ourselves obnoxious by trying to improve upon what Jesus has already accomplished. The very moment you stepped out of Adam and into Christ, and Christ stepped out of heaven and into you, you were set apart, sanctified, from the rest of the world. So don't be afraid of the word sanctification. It's a wonderful word that confirms you're being used for the exact purpose for which you were created.
(Grace Stories, Bob George)
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