Sanctification

I have just been over on http://www.armybarmy.com/index.html where sanctification is being discussed.

Whilst preparing for some teaching on Spiritual Growth I was led to the life of Samuel, which seemed to me to compare to the link between sanctification and growing in grace.

Samuel was born to Hannah through the grace of God, just as we have been born again spiritually through his grace.
Hannah had made a promise that if she could have a baby she would give him over to God totally for his service. It was a promise she made but she held on to the baby for a while but there came a moment when she knew she must in all conscience completely surrender him to God and take him to the temple. It was to be part of Samuel’s development, as he grew and was weaned but it involved a crisis, a moment of surrender so that Samuel was in the right place to grow as God wanted him to. Samuel was not just born of God, he was promised to God, but there was a moment when he was actually wholly set apart for God. In Christian life many promise God their total commitment, they even intend that it should be so but human ties can hold us back just as they could have Samuel, if Hannah had not let him go. However one day Hannah actually took her son and left him at the temple. He may have gone with her many times before to visit but this was different. On this day she once and for all relinquished her rights over her child and entrusted him to the priest. In the story of Samuel, it is Hannah who has to make the surrender as Samuel had no say in the matter. In our lives it is we ourselves who are called upon to relinquish the right to run our own lives and entrust them entirely to God.
The debate about who is in charge of our life is over. For Samuel it was no longer Hannah and Elkannah but Eli the Priest. For us it is no longer the world or self but Christ. Now that is settled it is time to concentrate on growing in this new life. It is our priority.
Samuel now lived at the temple but he didn’t stay two years old. Each year his mother brought him new clothes because he grew. He grew not only physically but emotionally and spiritually too. This did not mean he was immune from temptation. For Samuel even though he was in the place God wanted him to be, there was still a battle to fight as the influence of the world infiltrated the temple through Eli's sons. Samuel however, because he kept listening to God, was able to stay pure.

This experience of total surrender, continual growth and constant overcoming can be ours.

"We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

God bless

Carol