SANCTIFICATION THROUGH THE SPIRIT

I Peter 1:2

"...through sanctification through the Spirit,

unto obedience and sprinkling of blood of Jesus Christ."

John Wesley calls it "Through the renewing and purifying influences of his Spirit upon their souls; unto obedience--To engage and enable them to yield themselves up unto all holy obedience, the foundation of all, which is the sprinkling  of the blood of Jesus Christ.--The atoning blood of Christ was typified by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices under the law."

My little Webster dictionary says to sanctify means "1. to make holy: consecrate.  2. to make free from sin."

There's only one way to become free from sin, and it is by the sprinkling of the sacrificial blood of Christ.  To make holy is God's part.  Our part is to consecrate, set ourselves apart for God's holy use.  This happens when we yield ourselves to renewing and purifying influences of His Spirit upon our souls.  That can't happen when we are disobedient, a plain and simple act.

Just think, most of us have the everyday dishes, but then there are the special dishes for when company comes.  Even with everyday dishes, we do not put them on the table to feed our families unless they are clean.   But those dishes set apart for company are the best we can offer, as they are set sparkling clean, calling for good manners and polite conversation.  

Around our house, I used to have other dishes I used every day when I inherited my mother's Franciscan Apple Ware.  I'll never forget the ear splitting shattering one day while putting some away,  and the shelf collapsed .  Those special dishes fell on me and around me in many pieces.  Not all were broken, but enough to make me want to cry as they were pieces of my memories of my mother.  I slowly but surely built up my dishes until they are now used for everyday as well as for special occasions.  I do have antique China, but I rarely use it, for the Apple Dishes my mother used for company are too special not to use all the time.  You see, the specialness of these dishes is not to hide them away in a cupboard, but to get them out and to serve family and friends.  In fact, I may be down to my last three cups, but I drink out my Apple cups every day.

My parents bought them in Laguna Beach 

after they were  married in 1949.

If God sanctifies us, sets us apart for Himself, He wants us to not put away our  cleansed vessels but to use them to serve others every day.

"Eden is that old fashioned house we dwell in every day,

without suspecting our abode until we drive away."

Emily Dickinson