Thursday August 14, 2008
1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
SANCTIFICATION
We planted several tomato plants in our garden last Spring. Now, three months later, its BLT time! Truly the earth is the Lord's garden, bringing forth an abundant variety of tasty fruit for us to enjoy.
But its not only in earth's soil where God does His gardening. God plants His Word of Life in human hearts. This is amazing in that the soil of a sinner's heart is dead, a place where nothing good (humanly speaking) can grow. It seems the last place where God would attempt to grow a garden. But God does impossible things. His Word has the power to take root and grow. Every day, all over the world, it works the miracle of faith in Christ in barren hearts.
But the Gardener is looking for fruit! Day by day He waters, nurtures, and prunes our faith through the miracle grow power of the Gospel. His aim is to generate in us fruit such as love, joy, and peace. God's goal is to produce in us a rich harvest of good works which glorifies the Gardener and blesses those around us.
This growing process is known in Scripture as SANCTIFICATION. Justification teaches that we are fully acceptable to God -- "not guilty" of all sin -- because of what Christ did to redeem us. Sanctification is God's work to grow us to be more and more like Christ in our thinking, speaking, and living.
Right red ripe tomatoes are on the vine! But the growing season will soon be over. Soon my tomato plants will wither and die. But the believer's "growing season" won't end until he enters heaven. Every day is a day to grow in our life of sanctification -- our life of good works. May the Divine Gardener continue to work and till the soil of our hearts that they may produce lovely fruit for Him. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification . . ." (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
