Lord, Prepare Me

Saturday, December 18, 2010, 8:29 a.m. – I woke with this song in my mind:

Sanctuary / John W. Thompson

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You

It is you, Lord
Who came to save
The heart and soul
Of every man
It is you Lord
Who knows my weakness
Who gives me strength
With Thine own hand.

Lead Me on Lord
From temptation
Purify me
From within
Fill my heart with
Your Holy Spirit
Take away all my sin

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and Holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving I'll be a living
Sanctuary for you

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 9 (selected verses):

Vv. 22-26:

And he (Jesus) said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels...”

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My Understanding: I love that song! I so want the Lord Jesus to prepare me to be a sanctuary (where God’s Spirit dwells within me) that is pure (not mixed with worldly desires, thoughts or actions, or with idolatry and/or spiritual adultery, etc.), holy (set apart unto God), tried (tested) and true (not false; no shams; no going through the motions; no pretending to be something I am not; no lies and deceit; and faithful). I believe these verses in Luke 9 describe how I (we) can be pure, holy, tried and true sanctuaries for God.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary had these words to say about Luke 9:22-26:

“Jesus then discussed the deaths of His followers. They were to have the same attitude toward death and life that He had. Each one must deny himself, that is, not think about his own good. Also he must take up his cross daily… he must follow Jesus, even to death.”

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Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary had this to say about Luke 9:22-26:

“Those who want to be Jesus’ disciples can only truly be said to ‘follow’ him when they have implemented a radical decision to ‘deny’ themselves… We should therefore on the one hand ‘confess’ Christ, i.e., acknowledge him and identify ourselves with him, and, on the other hand, not set our desires and our will against the right Christ has to our lives… it means we must live for Christ… To take up the cross daily is to live each day, not for self, but for Christ.”

The two statements in vv. 24-26 “show the futility of clinging to one’s ‘life’, because that, paradoxically, results in losing the very self one wants to preserve. In contrast, the person who invests his or her life for God finds that such a life is not lost after all…”

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To deny self means to refuse to gratify your own desires (Encarta); to disregard one’s own interests (Strong’s Concordance) - basically it means to no longer live for our own selfish and sinful desires and to die to our old way of life of sin.

Luke 9:57-62 continues this idea of denying oneself and taking up our cross daily and following Christ as this passage of scripture describes the cost of following Jesus Christ.

Vv. 57-62:

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

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My Understanding: The Bible Knowledge Commentary had these words to say about Luke 9:57-62:

(9:57-58): “A man approached and wanted to follow where they were going. Jesus’ response was that a person desiring to follow Him must give up what others consider necessities. Jesus had no home of His own nor did His followers. They were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be put to death… (9:59-60): The point was that proclaiming the kingdom of God was so important that it could not wait. Of course if the man had left and followed Jesus, it would have caused a scandal in the community. But that was less important than proclaiming the kingdom and following the Messiah. A disciple must make a radical commitment… (9:61-62): Jesus’ words underscore the fact that His message of the kingdom of God was more important than anything else—even family members. The message and the Messiah cannot wait. Jesus’ message was more important than Elijah’s message and demanded total allegiance. Jesus’ servants should not have divided interests, like a farmer who begins plowing and looks back. Since Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, the man had to make up his mind right then as to what he was going to do…”

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Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary had this to say about Luke 9:57-62:

(9:61-62): “Although saying good-bye is not at all the emotional equivalent of a funeral, it still represents a family duty that must be forsaken for service to Jesus. Some see here an allusion to the call of Elisha while plowing and his request to say good-bye to his family. It was important for an ancient plowman to concentrate on the furrow before him, guiding the light plow with his left hand while goading the oxen with the right. Looking away would result in a crooked furrow.”

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Conclusion: If I want to be a sanctuary (my heart where God’s Spirit dwells) that is pure, holy, tried and true, then I need to forsake my selfish will and desires and instead I must learn from Jesus what he wants for my life so that I can obey him and follow him wherever he leads me. I have to be in his word, listening to his voice, and doing what he says. I can’t be a part-time Christian. It is all or none. I can’t determine for myself what good things I am going to do for the Lord and think he will be pleased with me while I refuse to listen to his word and to obey his teachings. It doesn’t work that way. The true Christian life is radical, it is committed to Jesus and his will, it is faithful to persevere even in trial and testing, it doesn’t flip-flop when put under pressure, it doesn’t make excuses for sin or minimize the seriousness of sin, it doesn’t think that grace means we can do as we please, it abnegates the old life and the old self and it takes upon oneself the very cross of Christ Jesus in being willing to die for the sake of one’s faith in Jesus Christ and is willing to follow the Lord by doing what he asks, saying what he says to say, being who he wants us to be, and going where he wants us to go, etc.

To some people, Jesus’ words to these people who either said they would follow him or to whom he called to follow him, might seem harsh and unjustified. Yet, when we take a closer look at what is really being said here, Jesus is letting these people know what it means to truly be a follower of his. Many people think they can put off following Jesus to another time or they decide they want to do this or that first and then they will obey. Oftentimes this comes from a lack of true commitment and might even result in desertion once things get tough along the way if there is not the kind of radical decision to follow Jesus that he desires and requires of those who truly want to be his disciples. So, in a way, it was a test of their faith to see if they were really committed to following him or if they were giving lip service only. Many people say, “I will follow you” and then the distractions of the world choke out that commitment and they end up never really doing what they say they are going to do. Jesus is not looking for casual followers who will follow when it suits their schedules. He wants us hook, line and sinker, i.e. he wants those who will say “Yes,” even if it costs them their reputations, their jobs, their homes, their families, their friends, and/or even their lives for the sake of following Jesus.

So, if I want to be a sanctuary for Jesus that is holy, pure, tried and true, I need to count the cost and then I need to take the plunge and put my past behind me and go forward in faith and obedience in following my Lord wherever he leads me.