ἁγιασμὸς

I've been so worried in my life about my calling and not knowing what it is or not knowing what I want to do with my life (or rather what He wants to do with my life).  I do try to give my life to Christ on a daily basis, telling Him I am willing to go wherever God will me.  I hope I will go when he calls, and I ask for that spirit in my life.

However, in "searching" for my calling, I have come up empty handed, because I can not find it.  I have to wait on the Lord for that one.  I wait on His command in my life, and in the meantime, live under His will as He commands.  Trying to live by 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 is one way I am following His will:

3It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body^a in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;

 I feel that this is my calling now, to be sanctified (or holy).  Not just in this particular area, but in all areas.  In areas of speech (James 3:9-10), mind (Phillipians 4:8) and body, as this verse points out.  It is the calling of a Christian to be sanctified.  It is God's will.  I am asking God to continually sanctify me with the Grace he has so generously poured out through His son Jesus Christ, who died for us.  

I was reminded of what Jesus did for me on Sunday when we were taking communion.  The pastor always says that the purpose of communion is to remember and reflect on what Christ has done for us, as Christ said in Luke 22:19:

 "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."  

It is easy for me to lose site of this Grace and Mercy that has been poured out for us and the Joy that the Lord gives us because of our freedom from sin.  I am thankful that I attend a congregation that does this weekly, so that I my be reminded of the reason for my freedom.  But I should not have to be reminded, it should merely be another opportunity for me to reflect on what the Lord has done.  I don't focus enough on His death and how much it means for us.  I take it for granted far too often.

Something I need to work on.  I thank Him for everything else in my life, but leave out His death for me a lot of the time.  Even when I do, I am not truly reflecting on what He did for me, but merely saying it out of habit.  Not that I should always focus on what He did for me, but I need to remember to bring that to the forefront of my mind every now and again in order for me to remind myself why I am striving to live by the will of God: to be sanctified.  

Pray that I will become pure and blameless in all areas, so that I may echo the life of Christ, who was the "sinless, spotless Lamb of God" (1 Peter 1:19) (Not that I ever will be spotless while here in this life, but that I may strive to be).   I pray this for the church as a whole, that we may one day see the Glory of God and here Him say those six words that we all long to hear from His lips.

Move in my life, Lord.  Sanctify my body, mind and speech.




Postscript: Please do not think that I knew all of this scripture.  I, unfortunately, knew very little of it and had to research it in order to know the fullness and location of the verses.  In no way am I trying to look like a biblical scholar, but merely trying to give reference to the thoughts that I have had so that the reader may simply see that what I am writing is backed by biblical teachings, and not my own thoughts.  Praise be to God, and Him alone, who speaks through this book in a powerful voice.