Ray Stedman has been a significant influence on me as a Bible teacher – and I never knew him. I came across his teachings on his web-site and was profoundly blessed nit just by the written material, but especially by the audio recordings.
That he has passed from the mortal experience is such a sadness for me. He’s a man I’d have loved to have met and spent some time in his company learning about Jesus in his lifestyle more than anything.
One of the outstanding things I recall from his teaching was his explanation of the word ‘sanctify’. Growing up in the church circles I did, words like that were bandied about without anyone taking the time to define it in simple terms. Stedman burst through with some straightforward clarity on the word.
Sanctify means to put sonething to its purposed usage. The chair is made as a piece of furniture for people to sit on/in. I sanctify the chair when I sit on it. If I stand on it, throw it through a window or leave it alone, it is not sanctified.
God knows the purpose for our lives. Many of us go about using it for a variety of reasons in a multitude of ways. None of which reflects God’s purpose. Many of us look to shape our lives by society’s templates – riches, fame, comfort, individuality, leisure, intelligence, etc. All the while missing the purpose for which God made us.
Jesus’ amazing ministry on the earth heavily involved developing loving relations with His disciples. They saw how He looked to the Father to guide Him to be used in a manner pleasing to Him. From the first sign at the wedding in Cana to His ascension, these followers got to know Him and see how He was used by the Father and solely as the Father desired.
In His final prayer before He was taken to be crucified, Jesus prayed that just as He had been put to the right use by the Word of the Father, so His followers would be marked by lives defined and motivated by the Father.
In the world constantly making demands on our time and energies, we can put ourselves tonright usage by hearing and obeying what our Father has said. Jesus goes onto say that right usage is about being sent on mission just as He was. Sent to declare and demonstrate the rule of the Father powered by His love.
Now that prayer still applies to us, we must still seek to be used as the Father wants, as He speaks to us, as He leads us. In doing so we carry on Christ’s legacy and fulfil His call to love even as He loved. This is no pie-in-the-sky theory. This affects relationships, life-choices, money-decisions, hobbies, the job we have. Everything is wrapped up in that. And we can pass that along in the loving relationships we deepen across the generations.
Therein lies our call to be sanctified by the truth, by the Father’s word.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 