I’ve thought off and on a lot about sanctification.  I went looking at different things and never really had what I felt was a worthwhile understanding of it.  I know that this was one of the things restored back during the times of John Wesley.  Sanctification by the washing of the water of the word.  So I even went and read through his writings on what looks to be his main teaching, basically about the perfecting of the believer.  I can’t remember what he calls it.

So finally I’m listening to a preacher who mentions this and talks about the point where Jesus got onto the pharisees for cleaning the outside and not the inside, and how sanctification was the process they used for staying pure in the Old Testament.  Finally it sort of clicks in place.  In the Old Testament, the people ( and especially the priests ) followed a huge set of rules about how to be clean.  There were lists of things like if you touched blood you’re unclean, if you eat certain foods, you’re unclean, so on, so forth.  It was a list of guidelines to follow that helped to keep the priests clean, to keep them pure for their duties.

It set them apart for service.  Isn’t that the definition of sanctification, being holy, setting apart something to make it holy, usable for a purpose.  The outward manifestations of this were important then, but like so much in the Old Testament, they were to applied upon the heart as well.  You don’t just keep your body clean, you keep your soul clean as well.  If you want to make yourself holy, set apart for God, you need to set yourself apart from other things.

The first of course is sin.  There’s no place for sin in the presence of the Lord.  As you cultivate His presence, you’ll find sin just throws it all off.  You can’t sit in His presence knowing that sin is reigning.  In my life there’s been a couple areas lately that just keep popping up.  I pretend like I have control, but when some stuff falls apart, they can jump right back in.  I just can’t do that anymore.  If I’m determined to see the Lord, I’m willing to give those areas over, to not even draw near because I’m drawing near to Him.

Next is the areas that pollute you.  For me, books is a good example.  I like fiction books, for a time they’re good, but it becomes a sort of addiction with me.  When I start, it’s hard to put it down, and we know anything that comes before the Lord is bad.  But even past that.  They introduce ideas into my head.  What I’ve found is that if I’ve been reading too much, or watching certain shows on TV, my mind will get stuck there.  I suddenly find my imaginations working on those concepts, and not on the Lord.  I’ve had to start cutting those things out.  I have to cut out certain music, because it takes up residence in my head and is keeping me from being still.

You see, I need to be still, to have my mind able to rest and just look at the Lord.  The more I’ve filled it with this unholy stuff ( even though it’s not an outright sin ), the harder I find it to be with the Lord.  My mind is very active, so I don’t know if others are this way, but I expect we are all to an extent.  I’m sure it will work a little differently for others, but the concept is the same.  I need to set apart what I bring into my life, so that I my mind and soul can be clean and ready for God’s service.  You don’t walk into the King’s presence with pizza stains on your shirt, and dirt over your pants.