Sanctify Yourselves

​“And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” Joshua 3:5-7

After the two Israelite spies returned from Jericho, they reported to Joshua what Rehab had said about the fear and faintheartedness of the inhabitants, which indicated to them that the Lord had delivered the land of Jericho into their hands. The next morning, under Joshua’s command, the children of Israel left Acacia Grove (Shittim) and lodged in Jordan to prepare to cross over. There, officers of the camp gave commands about distancing themselves from the ark of the covenant of the Lord and not coming near it, for the ark was to cross over before the Israelites. Joshua told the Israelites that the Lord would do wonders among them the following day, but they must sanctify themselves. This was not the first command to sanctify or consecrate themselves. The Israelites had similar calls for consecration at Mount Sinai.
​
To sanctify themselves was to prepare themselves to be in the presence of the holy Lord. That meant abstaining and separating themselves from anything considered unclean, which would interfere with their relationship with the Lord. This required action from the Israelites and was something that Joshua could not do for them, nor could they do for Joshua. Each individual Israelite must intentionally take responsibility to prepare themselves, sanctify themselves, and consecrate themselves, by separating themselves from what God considered as unclean before coming before His presence.

The call for sanctification still remains true today. Scripture is clear that Christ is considered the only acceptable payment for our sin in the eyes of the Lord, and He alone freed us from the enslavement of sin by saving us. Scripture is not calling us to save ourselves, but to sanctify ourselves. Sanctification calls for us to intentionally refrain and separate ourselves from what is unclean in God’s sight. This means that we are to renew our minds to think as God desires and to speak, respond, and behave as He commands in His word (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6). Sanctification is a way of life that happens by the strength of God with the help of the Holy Spirit as we renew our minds to the Scriptures. We are to have a great exchange by daily putting off the old way of thinking and behaving as we put on the new (Ephesians 4:20-24). God can do wonders in our lives as well. Our part is a lifestyle of preparation by consistently remaining in a life of sanctification and remaining in His presence.