The Secret Place: 21 Day DevotionalSample

THE TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY

Leviticus 20:7-8

The christian journey is often described through 3 stages Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. Justification happens the moment you gave your life to Christ and said yes to Jesus. Sanctification is the lifelong process of conforming to the image of Christ or essentially the process of looking more like Christ and glorification is God’s final removal of sin from the person who puts their faith in the finished work of Christ when we stand before Him. As we embark on our second week of the fast, our focus will be on sanctification. When looking at the original definition of sanctification, we find the Greek word “hagiasmos” which means holiness. To sanctify is to make holy, to be separated or to be set apart for God, and unto God - to be used by the one in which we were made in His image and likeness. The concept of sanctification is found throughout scripture - it is not a new testament concept. One of the first instances we see of this in Genesis 2:3 - God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. He separated this day from every other day - a day of rest, preserved for holy use. Another instance is regarding the Israelites - the book of Leviticus is filled with God’s laws and precepts for consecration, that the people of Israel may “be holy as He is holy” through ceremonial cleansing by the shedding of blood. It is the same in the New Testament; from the moment we accept Jesus, we have been declared holy by God, which means we have been set apart for His use - we are in this world but not of this world. Holiness is our new nature. The process of sanctification can be referred to as the effect of obedience to the word of God in one’s life. It is the daily war against our sin, despising ungodliness and walking away from it as we pursue righteousness through submission to His word. As we journey in this faith, sanctification requires us to shed our old nature and take on the nature of Christ, which we can never do by ourselves by the way. Take a look at the Israelites in the Old Testament as an example! They always did what was right in their own eyes, disregarding God’s lordship.

Our sanctification means realising that we have an authority over us and we no longer govern our lives. John 15 is a good illustration of sanctification in effect. With God as the gardener, He removes every branch in us that no longer bears fruit. Let’s bring this into practical terms; The beauty of our God is that He meets us where you are but doesn’t desire for us to stay as we are. When we come to Christ, our new nature is holy but a work needs to be done to reflect this. There may be behaviours that we exhibit, such as pride, unforgiveness or sexual immorality. These are branches that bear no fruit. In other words they do not glorify Christ because they aren’t characteristics that represent Him. As the Lord sanctifies, He cuts off these branches as He calls us to lay these things down. He also prunes branches so that it bears more fruit. You may have spoken in a certain way that didn’t quite reflect the character of Christ or you exhibit behaviours that may seem harmless or even good but the heart behind it is rooted in pride. God’s pruning in this example is refining our speech, seasoning our words with salt, knowing what to say and when to say it or checking our hearts so that the root of our actions stems from a place of love.

In summary, sanctification for us is the transformative journey that refines our character to align our speech, our actions and overall lifestyle with the likeness of Christ.