S69P3 – Truth at work: sanctifying
John 17:15-19
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
From the day she had given her life to Christ, she knew that there would be more work to do. She understood that the process of sanctification would be a life-long journey while she lived in this world. She would watch seasoned Christians in her life in order to know how she was to live and follow their example. Her approach was to do as they did and say as they said. As time went on, she found it more and more difficult to emulate these Christian examples. The difficulty came from her method. She was trying to imitate the Christian lifestyle without understanding its foundation in God’s truth. She had forsaken allowing the truth to take root in her first. Without that, she could not be changed.
Our transformation is the result of God’s truth doing its work in us. We do not try to think or act or speak a certain way. We merely accept the truth of God and his instruction, and the fruit of that is a godly life. If we try to do and say the right things without knowing why we should do and say them in the first place, that is not change. Change comes from allowing the word to transform what we know, how we think and how we approach this life. God’s truth is the source of our purification, and the changes in our way of life are the proof of that result. We only continue to grow and transform if we continue to meditate over God’s truth, to believe it and accept it, to let it take root and move us forward. Otherwise, we start moving back to our starting point.
If we want to be purified, we must spend time in God’s word learning his truth. As we explored previously, this is not merely about having an objective knowledge of what the truth is. We must know it, believe it and be open to it changing us. If we stop growing in his truth, we stop being purified. We know that we will never arrive while we are still living in this world, so we must continue progressing toward full purity as the days are available to us. The transformation begins when we let the truth of God’s word find its home in us and do its mighty work. Father, make us a people who prioritize the learning of your truth that we would pursue sanctification daily.