One Word

My dear friend had shared a link on Facebook from One Word 365. The article encouraged readers to select one word for the year. This one little word would become a focus of sorts. 

I thought about it and decided to pray about what word to choose. My word for 2013 is....sanctify.

sanc·ti·fy

 transitive verb \-ˌfī\

sanc·ti·fied   sanc·ti·fy·ing

Definition of SANCTIFY

1: to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use: consecrate

2: to free from sin: purify

I love that Jesus prays for his disciples to be sanctified {Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17}. 

Oswald Chambers penned: "When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me." {But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1: 30-31}

Then, later in 1 Corinthians, this: For the unbelieving husband is set apart (separated, withdrawn from heathen contamination, and affiliated with the Christian people) by union with his consecrated (set-apart) wife... Otherwise your children would be unclean (unblessed heathen, outside the Christian covenant), but as it is they are prepared for God [pure and clean].

He always reveals himself to those who seek him. And in this revelation, in this time of moving from the cradle to the cross, I need the epiphany anew in my heart. There is an urgency mingled with expectancy. 

It's not about me. I fail every time. It's about Christ in me. My hope of glory. It's about His willingness to enter this blemished earth, this broken vessel. This is where he dwells amidst the sinners and saints; a Savior to save. 

To live fully in Him, by the truth of His word, and for His specific purpose: this is my prayer. And, moreover, the prayer for my husband and children to be sanctified and come to their own personal knowledge of saving grace. 

Sanctify. One word. The cry of my heart.