Sweeter Than Candy

I work at the Chocolate Therapy Cafe' where there are many delicious home made candies and other goodies but there is something else there too. On top of the candy counter is a perpetual calendar. Every day there is a Bible verse for that day. I read it when I first come to work and then I think about it throughout the day. It's like candy for my soul.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 It seems to me that everyday in one way or another I struggle with my sinful nature. When I found this verse in Thessalonians and meditated on it all day at work the truth of what was being said permeated my mind and Spirit. Thessalonians goes on to say, “May your whole spirit,soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

I read an account of John Newton recently about his own struggle after he had become a Christian. He spoke of how he valued the Word of God. He was no longer a drunk, given over to every evil,but he still had a problem. As he put it, “My soul still loved dirt.” He found himself in Guinea living a life that would make anyone think that he had forgotten about the Lord's mercies. He said, “Sin first deceives, and then it hardens. I was not tightly chained, but I had no power to free myself-and little desire to. Sometimes I would think about the fix I had gotten into;if I tried to change my ways, I would just sink deeper.” So the question is, can Jesus really sanctify us through and through? Is He able to keep our whole spirit, soul and body blameless until He comes? Is He faithful, can He do it?

John Newton went on to say, “Weak and almost delirious, I got out of bed and crept to a secluded part of the island where I had the freedom in prayer I had never had before. I made no more resolutions to be a better man. I simply cast myself on the Lord to do with me whatever He wanted. I did not have a shred of power to do anything right. All I could do was throw myself at His feet, receiving the good of Christ's death for me in a way I had never done before...I began to wait on the Lord in prayer as I had never done before. I am humbly trusting in His mercy and His promises to be with me as my Guide and Guard till the end of my life.”

Lord Jesus, when I read this account of John Newton I am reminded that You are able to sanctify me through and through. Forgive me for spending so much of my life acting like the weight of the burden to be blameless rests on my shoulders forgetting that You are faithful and You can do what You've promised to do. Help me do instead what John Newton did and humble myself by casting myself and all my anxieties on You believing you care for me. Then let me sing the song John Newton wrote, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.”