What does it mean to purify
ourselves? Yes, Jesus set us free
from sin when He sacrificed His life at Calvary. Salvation is a free gift that we only have to accept. We may no longer be required to go
through the ceremony of “purification” that the Israelites had to perform, but
we DO live in a fallen world. Evil
is in a constant battle with good.
Distractions are everywhere, and many things are competing for our
attention. Some days, we may not
even feel saved. God is
always with us, but sometimes, the circumstances of life cloud our vision and
reduce His importance in our lives.
I don’t know about you, but those times don’t make me feel like I’ve
crossed the Jordan to “freedom” on the other side.
Sometimes, it’s busy-ness
and simple neglect of our relationship.
Other times, it may be outright blatant sin that we’ve allowed to creep
in and take priority in our lives.
It may be bitterness or unforgiveness in our heart that separates us
from Him. Perhaps it’s the guilt of past wounds or mistakes that make us feel
like we’re never quite worthy to be in His presence.
Water has to go through a
purification process before it is drinkable. Air often needs to go through a purification process before
it is safely breathable. Gold must
go through a purification process in order to discard the less precious metals
and allow it’s true value to be recognized.
Joshua was commanding the
people to purify themselves because “tomorrow, the Lord will do AMAZING things
among you.” He was urging them to
take special care to make themselves clean because God was about to show up in
an amazing way. Like the water,
air, and gold, it takes a process to remove impurities from our lives and
hearts. It is not done haphazardly or carelessly. It takes time and focus. People’s lives depend on the
impurities being removed from water and air. Gold will never be worth its true weight with the less
desirable metals attached. In the
same way, we must separate ourselves from sin and pursue purity if we desire to
experience the fullness of His glory.
So what does the
purification process look like for us?
Rather than a magic formula, each of us needs to find the answer
individually through Bible study and prayer, since Jesus wants us to have
personal encounters with Him that allow us to be shaped to look more like Him.
However, a great start is intentionally focusing our hearts and our minds
solely on Him through devotions, worship, prayer, & fasting. As He begins to speak to our hearts and
deal with us on our own issues, we may find it necessary to make some radical
“clean up” moves. (In my head,
Dora and Barney are singing their clean up songs and getting rid of clutter J). Our
process may involve some sacrifice, throwing out some things that are
cluttering up the God-shaped hole in our lives. It may require pushing away our plates or turning off our
favorite shows for awhile out of desperation to see the AMAZING move of His
presence that is right around the corner.
It may require new habits and new hangout spots, even a new vocabulary.
Sometimes when we want to see the Amazing, we have to do the Radical.
We’ll talk more about the
signs and wonders that followed in our next issue, but just know this. True
freedom ALWAYS comes with a price.
It is costly, but hindsight always shows it to be worth the
sacrifice. You’ll see that
crossing to the other side of the Jordan comes in a miraculous way. When He
writes our stories with His Presence, the results always top a Hollywood
Blockbuster. Stay tuned for more.
