BIBLE PASSAGE:
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled
on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they
are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may
serve the living God!
(Hebrews 9:13-14)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever thought about getting dirty so you can become clean?
We can see from the passage above that some people did exactly that!
Whenever someone was ceremonially unclean, they were sprinkled
with blood and ashes from animals. What was the result of this ritual?
They were now considered to be clean (but only on the outside). But
what about their cleanliness on the inside?
Our mind can be dirty with sin and disobedience of the Lord’s
commands, can’t it? Consequently, we need to be cleansed on
the inside as well. There is only one way for that to happen and
it is through the blood of Jesus. Although His blood is not visible
to others, we know when we have been cleansed by Him, because
we have felt His power changing our thoughts, attitudes, and habits.
Why is that the only way to be cleaned? Because Jesus offered
Himself as ‘unblemished to God’. During biblical times, only the
blood of unblemished animals was used to ceremonially cleanse
the outside of people. But now, the unblemished blood of Jesus is
the cleansing agent God has chosen to clean everyone on the inside.
This might be old news to many, but look at the reasons why we are
cleansed. Our minds can be filled with all kinds of sinful thoughts,
and these thoughts can become entrenched in our minds. When that
happens, we develop guilty consciences because we know we are not
living within the boundaries established by God.
Why would these thoughts bother us so much, and why would they
give us the type of overwhelming guilt they do? It’s because we know
our thoughts are leading us down a path that is not pleasing to God
and doesn’t align us with eternal life (instead, they are taking us in the
opposite direction toward eternal punishment and permanent separation
from the Lord).
We might think that death is final and there is nothing to fear after
death. This type of thinking may prevent us from being motivated
to be cleansed. But if that’s the kind of thoughts we are having, more
than likely we will live a life of unexplainable restlessness driven by a
guilty feeling that we can’t understand. If our minds aren’t transformed,
then we may never be cleansed on the inside and will only realize the
consequences when it’s too late to do anything about it.
We continue to live eternally after death, and if we are not cleansed and
we don’t have a loving fellowship with the Lord, then our eternity will
be filled with suffering. Not only will we suffer physically, but we will
also suffer emotionally from the realization that God loves us and He
gave us an opportunity to change, but we ignored Him.
If we refuse what the Lord has offered us, we will have a constant and
eternal view and realization of ‘paradise lost’. When we become keenly
aware of the devastating consequences of remaining dirty on the inside,
hopefully we will be motivated to seek the Lord, and receive the cleansing
He has offered to everyone.
Our actions are an outflow of what originates in our minds (both good
and bad).
Those who live according to the flesh have their
minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who
live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds
set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed
by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the
Spirit is life and peace.
(Romans 8:5-6)
Since our mind is the ‘engine’ that controls us, it makes sense that we
our mind needs to be cleansed if we expect to avoid the thoughts and
acts that lead to eternal separation from the Lord and His blessings.
When we avoid acts that lead to death, and we have a desire to spend
eternity with God, we have reasons for asking God to cleanse us.
But there is another consideration for being cleansed internally. The
scriptures tell us we are cleansed so we will be able to serve our living
God. Implied is, we cannot serve God ‘until’ we have been cleansed.
We may have this question,
“When I am cleansed, will I have a desire to serve God”?
Look at what Paul said in his letter to Titus
(he includes the phrase – ‘eager to do what is good’):
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation
to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed
hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His
very own, eager to do what is good.
(Titus 2:11-14)
In the few verses above, we can see the significant changes we should
expect when we have been cleansed. But how many of us are willing
to make these changes in our lives? How many of us have thoughts
like,
“I have been cleansed of my guilty conscience so I
am now qualified and willing to start serving the
living God.”
Hopefully, when we have been cleansed, we decide to read the
bible more, to worship more with other believers, and to start
praying more often. But will we make a choice to start actively
serving God with a heart of thankfulness for how He has blessed
and cleansed us?
The cleansing of our mind creates a clean environment for our
faith to live. When all the wrong and dirty thoughts have been
removed, there is more room in our mind for clean and Godly
thoughts to flourish (and these new thoughts include a desire to
serve the Lord).
A clean mind creates a righteous environment that welcomes the
Holy Spirit to be active in our lives. God knows the struggles we
can have when trying to live righteous lives, so He includes His
gift of the Holy Spirit when we receive His salvation.
The Holy Spirit becomes our protector from the evil one, and is
our guide for righteous living. He will also motivate us to have a
desire to serve the Lord (using the Spiritual gift He has given us).
so we can point others toward Jesus where they can be cleansed
as well. Why would we want to serve Him? Because we want to
see others cleansed by God in the same way we have been cleansed.
We need to realize that God doesn’t cleanse us to ‘do nothing’.
He cleanses us so we can become useable by Him. Satan wants
to convince us that once we have been cleansed, we are now in
good standing with God and we don’t need to be involved in
doing else. But when God speaks to us through Paul, He says
we should, be eager to do what is good”.
ACTION:
We should ask ourselves these questions,
– How clean am I?
– Am I clean only on the outside for others to see,
or have I been cleansed on the inside as well?
– How do I know if I have been cleansed?
– What changes have I seen in myself (habits, thoughts,
attitudes, etc.) after God has cleansed me?
– Do I have a burning desire to serve God
and point others to Jesus?
– How am I using the spiritual gift God gave me
when I was cleansed by Him?
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I am in awe of the magnitude of Your
grace, mercy, and forgiveness. I want to be totally cleansed
on the inside, and not just my outward appearance that is
seen by others. Wash away the dirty thoughts from my
mind which lead to an eternal separation from You. Create
in me a new mind with a desire for living righteously. Teach
me how I can serve You and point others to Jesus. Thank You
for the availability of Your cleansing which leads to salvation
and eternal life in with You!”
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