Balanced!

Balanced!

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

1 Peter 3:15 KJV

The Context:

Simon the coward or reed became Peter the rock. A true encounter with the Lord cannot leave you the same. He writes to the scattered congregation of Christians in various places, people called the elect of God, sanctified by the Spirit, and unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. For all who profess Christ as Lord and Saviour, we have the support of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am not called to walk alone or to work in my own strength, but I have the presence, power and purpose of God backing me up. In that understanding, I cannot be said to fail. The full picture of what I am now or where I am headed or how it will be achieved may not be immediately clear to me, but without a doubt, whoever and whatever God backs up will surely succeed.

That is the confidence that needs to be established for today's extract to work out. If God is not on the throne of my  heart, the minimum requirement for today's extract has not been met. A heart that is not under the sole and direct control of God, cannot be used for great exploits. A heart that holds no sole allegiance to God will easily mess up the treasures of God. How's my heart? How's yours? Getting God's view on my heart is the first big step toward getting God's purpose established in and through me.

The Message:

And that is why today's extract starts with the heart. I am to sanctify the Lord God in my heart. It is not first a congregational call, but a personal one. It is a call for me to check myself against the standard of God, not man. Man can applaud anything that catches his fancy today, and also reject the same thing tomorrow. That is the way of feeble man, and is not the way God works. His principles are not subject to the changing weather, and do not need man's support or opposition to be established. So, again, how is my heart? Has it been separated from a profane to a sacred purpose? Is anything allowed to pass through it, unfiltered and uncensored? Do I run my heart on the basis of 'anything goes?' 

Before I can impact the world, the Word has to first impact me. Before I can speak to the world, my heart has to be fully and totally dedicated to God. He may speak through the filthy, as he did through Balaam, he may work for a while through the sons of Sceva, and he may honour his name among those who just call him Lord, Lord, but when you check the end of all the examples above, it is clear that knowing, calling or being around the name is not what counts but that the name knows you are his own, and he can count on your heart being totally devoted to him. 

I note that a full colon (:) follows after the comment on the heart, and this shows that what comes after is linked to the heart, and is in fact dependent on the state of the heart. What hope can the lips give when the heart is not sanctified? How would the lips be able to provide succour and support to people when its heart is not itself anchored on the one who can supply these in abundant measure? 

And men will always ask for the reason for your joy in the face of pain, and hope in the face of despair. The world is eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God, and how else will this happen if those who are the sons have nothing to show for their relationship with and connection to Christ? 

And how I answer also matters: with meekness and fear. Why, you may ask? Could it be that I acknowledge the fact that if not for the grace of God, I would have been lost? Could it be that fear of God keeps me sane and grounded, lest I think that anything of myself gave me all that I hold now? Could it be that being meek is like being like Christ and making him known, so that all who come to me see him expressed in and through me? Could it just simply be that all I am now, is a function of all that God is and as I live, walk, work, speak and relate, all of God -his mercy, grace and fear are all evident. 

The Response:

Now that I know the standard, I have no excuse. Men will ask questions of me. If I don't live, walk, talk or work like them, I am bound to stand out. When the hope I have shines out so brightly, men will ask what the foundation or basis of the hope is. If I am asked today, what would my response be? How would I defend that which I hold on to? Have I met the God who demands sanctified vessels through which his best work can be seen? 

Remember, without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. It does not matter how well 'used' I am by God or how familiar I am with the holy things; what counts is first about the state of my sanctified heart. Is mine sanctified for God's use? Can God entrust his great treasures into my hands because he trusts my heart? Time for personal reflection; his time of favour is here.