Tuesday, October 18, 2022

 

Tuesday, October 18, 2022


Psalm 107:1-22

Ezra 7:11-28

1 Peter 3:8-16


Observance: Luke, evangelist and martyr



In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.



In this one short phrase is contained the cosmic love song of eternity. To “sanctify” is to separate; to make something distinct and apart from everything else. Christ our one true love is different from everything else in this life; He is Lord of everything. He wakes us up on Sunday mornings to go to church, but if you bend the knee He will take over so much else.


Christ as Lord of our meals turns every snack into a heavenly feast. As Lord of our feet, he takes us along safe paths, leading us by the hand as Lord of the journey. Christ as Lord of our hands turns every task into heavenly kingdom-work. As Lord of the universe, our Brother and Friend gives us no reason to be intimidated. He is Lord of the spiritual realm, too – when we bless in His royal name, it is His blessings that flow out through us, and He is happy to do this.


We must not spurn our Lord. He is Lord of our desires; everything we would like to do must be in line with His will and decree. Not everything we would like to do is necessarily good for us, and our good Lord knows best for us. It may be something habitual; it may be an attitude towards other people; it may be the way we think. Christ is jealous and will not compete with these lesser inclinations.


Peter wants our very minds to be brought in line with Christ’s lordship; to always be ready to make our defense to anyone who demands from us an accounting for the hope that is in us. This is such a terrifying prospect for this society which has fetishised self-determination. But this is the “renewal of the mind” of which Paul and John have taught us. It is a slippery slope from Christ as Lord of our mind to a Christ-like, biblical world-view. But this is who Christ would have us be. He could have stayed with the Father in heaven; He could have come to earth and simply directly ascended before the cross. He could have brought legions of angels to destroy the Romans and Jewish establishment. But in His heart, He has sanctified us. The cosmic love song of eternity brings us back into the heart of Christ, and He into ours.




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