Sanctify Yourselves

Josh. 3:5

When you hear the words, "Sanctify yourselves," what comes to your mind?

Webster says of sanctification: to set apart for a sacred purpose or to religious use, consecrate, to free from sin, purify, to give moral or social sanction to, make productive of holiness or piety, observe the day of the Sabbath to.

Several different denominations have a different opinion as to what sanctification means. One group will tell you to them it is a second work of the Spirit and others say sanctification begins when you are saved and continues in your life as long as you live.

When Joshua said to the people in 3:5, Sanctify yourselves: For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you, what in your opinion was the people to do?

Joshua used the word yourselves. There are some things that no one else can do for you. There is an old song that says: you must walk that lonesome valley, you must go there by yourself; there is no one can go there for you. The life we live and the death we die is determined by you and you alone. There is no one that can tell you what you must do to be right with God.

Sanctify suggests to me that we must set our selves aside for the service of God.

Consecration of one's self must be done from within and again only the individual can do this. To free from sin takes a trip to Calvary and having the blood of Jesus applied to our heart is the washing power we all need to be forgiven. Can we be forgiven of our sins and hold a grudge against others? Jesus said in Matthew 6:15, "But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Do you suppose that one of the reasons there is not more prayers answered today is first we must forgive before we ask to be forgiven?

Purify is a part of sanctification we can all work on. I believe our Lord wants all of us to be pure and clean from any sin or wrong doing. The so called little sins is the destruction of our nation. I hear people say I only hurt myself or it really doesn't matter what I do or no one will ever know. Would we want Jesus to know everything we think or do? He does!

When we purify ourselves there will be a cleaning up of those little things that cause harm.

It is also interesting that sanctification includes moral and social sanction. Every nation that goes on a moral decline ends up in defeat and crumbles. God has laws that must be obeyed and those that go against them becomes the loser.

Marriage is one sacred institution that must be respected. God made man and wife to bring children into the world. Homes are made in this way only. For a man and man to pretend to be a family is an abomination in the sight of God. Lev.20:13.