The Right Direction

Sanctification is not about an experience.  Neither is it about attainment.  Some might think it speaks of a kind of spiritual perfection, but it is not about perfection.  It is about heart purity.  As John Wesley pointed out, sanctification is not about perfection in performance, but perfection in motivation.  I often think about an old peach farmer in Talbot County who told me one day somewhere in his seventh decade of life that he planted new peach trees, not because he was sure he would be around in seven years when the new orchard came into full production, but because he wanted his grandchildren to know he was pointed in the right direction.

 

Is it not better to be pointed in the right direction than to be pointed in the wrong direction?  Is it not better to be pointed toward perfection and maturity (Matthew 6:48) than to be pointed toward imperfection and immaturity?  Is it not better to be pointed toward holiness (I Peter 1:16) than unholiness?  Is it not better to be pointed toward purity of heart (Matthew 5:8) than impurity?  Is it not better to strive for what seems beyond our reach than to be content to reach what is easily reachable?

 

We should always remember that it is God who purifies and cleanses the heart. (Acts 15:8-9)  We can live as those who seek heart purity and those who lives are pointed in that direction, but it is God who does this work of the heart.  There can be doubt that God desires to do this work in us that we cannot do for ourselves.  Always remember the Word.  Never lose sight of it.  "For this is the will of God, your sanctification."  (I Thessalonians 4:3)