Becoming like Jesus is harder than it looks. We have our sin nature to overcome. Thankfully, we have the Spirit in us!

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Yesterday, we looked at the different soils in which the seed of the Word of God is planted in our lives. Today, we will look at what happens daily in Christians’ lives.

²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Daily, we make the choice to be clean vessels for His use or to stay dirty vessels that He still uses, but not for what we would like.

Jesus described salvation as a turning away from sin and turning to the light (John 3:20-21). John further described our daily lives as walking in the light (1 John 1:8). Sanctification is a fancy word for becoming like Jesus. There is a purification process that needs to happen to us. King David compared it to purifying silver and gold (Psalm 12:6). Another way of saying it is that we present ourselves to God,

“But in the same way we gave ourselves as slaves to anything of this world, we must constantly, repeatedly give ourselves to God and righteousness. It is not a once-and-for-all decision; it is a daily one. An hourly one, even. You have to present yourself constantly to God, for your sanctification is a lifelong process.”*

This process of sanctification is one that the Holy Spirit takes great joy in walking us through. To us, it is hard, painful, and altogether unpleasant, but to Him, it is majesty and beauty being created–or, rather, revealed in us. We are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Concerning being clean vessels versus dirty ones, the idea is to stay clean. Since we know that sin destroys everything it touches, we want to wash ourselves in the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26) and to present ourselves to our Lord ready-to-use, so to speak. Our goal, as we walk with Jesus, is to look just like Him. He tells us to “be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).” How do we do that? Through the process of sanctification, which the Spirit is already doing in our lives right now! All we need to do is walk in step with the Spirit,

²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

Abba, help us to walk in step with You. The process of sanctification is long, and drawn-out (it takes our entire lives). We look forward to the day we get to step into Your presence whole, complete, blameless and perfected. Until then, we are trusting You for every step. Keep us focused on You, Lord. Amen.

*”Bearing Fruit” page 58