Joshua 3:5, “And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

It’s day 20, with just 1 more day of the challenge remaining. We are going to finish strong!

We are still discussing fasting and consecration.

Christian Library says of Joshua 3:5 “But before they could move, they were first instructed by the Lord to sanctify or consecrate themselves. This meant that they had to make themselves ready to follow the Lord’s instructions. They had to be holy. That’s what the word “sanctify” means. It means “to make yourself holy.” It means that they had to focus on the Lord and what he was doing. They had to prepare their hearts to listen to the Lord. “

This is very important to understand and apply to our own lives because we have the same goal. We want to be led by God. We want to receive instruction and direction from God before we make our next move.

We cannot just sit back and wait for God to miraculously change our life at the snap of his fingers. There are some things we must do. We have to sanctify ourselves. By definition, to sanctify is to set apart as or declare holy; consecrate. We must pull away from things and people that would come between us and God. These would be some of those distractions that we talked about yesterday.

But notice how we are required to sanctify ourselves. That is the responsibility of salvation. We must take initiative in this walk with Christ. Remember, God wants our choice. He wants us to willingly choose him over everything else. As a part of that choice we must seek to do the things line up with the word of God. As the scripture says faith without works is dead. We need to put action to our faith.

Here is my favorite part – as we take action by sanctifying ourselves and adding works to our faith, we in the place we need to be. Spiritually speaking. Our hearts and minds are focused on God and we are prepared for the next move/level. We are now ready for see and receive the wonders God wants to work in our lives.

Devotion:

As a part of sanctifying ourselves, let us spend some time in worshipping God.

Exercise:

As balance is our goal, we must remember to make time for physical activity. Drawing closer to God is no excuse for not properly taking care of the one and only body he has given us. Set aside 30 minutes of brisk exercise and have fun doing it.

Healthy Eating:

We are still focusing on fasting and consecration, so you may not be eating today. Just remember when your fast is over go back to those healthy meals. We are going to treat our bodies better and improve our health.

Enjoy your time in the Lord and have a very blessed day!