I'm really excited to explore this next call with you, my little SonShines!  You can learn more about this journey we're taking over here and our first stop on this tour of seven calls is right here.  Next up, we'll be exploring our call to sanctification.

Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, wrote letters to the churches of their time and God's inclusion of these letters in His Holy Word has made them letters to The Church as a whole.  That includes us, sisters!  Praise Jesus! 
There isn't much that makes you feel more loved than the letters Christ's first disciples wrote.  These were men in direct contact with our Risen Savior...with LOVE itself! 
Each letter exudes that undying love.

In one such letter, we are urged to remain pure,
"for this is the will of God, your sanctification:  that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor..." 
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, NRSV)

As I prepared for this devotional, I couldn't seem to move beyond the word "fornication" in the passage above.  So many translations have the words, "sexual immorality" in its place, but somehow something felt lacking in that term.  God called for further digging, and I grabbed my study shovel and He uncovered a treasure that I'm eager to share.

The original Greek word used here was "pornea" and yes, as you can guess by the all too familiar first syllable, this word does most often translate as "fornication".  Sometimes the key isn't in the word used, but in the timing of the usage!  Today, fornication is limited to the idea of sexual immorality; in Biblical times it had a much broader implication.  It did include all forms of sexual impurity, but it also spoke to the sin of idolatry. 

The Strong's definition for idol is an image, a phantom, an image in the mind, and later, the image of a god, an idol.

In today's society it isn't difficult to find objects of idolatry.  The image of the perfect house and body, the ever-elusive phantom of worldly status that we chase, an image in the mind of how we want life to be, and later, if left unchecked, the image becomes like a god in competition with our God.
Fighting over our time, our minds, our very souls.

It is a startling reality, but take heart!  There is Hope!

God doesn't just desire our holiness and wholeness, He is calling us to come and get it.  Our Father is asking that we take the path through Christ and past that torn curtain, right into His presence.  After all, we can only be made holy by such means.  The journey to sanctification begins with accepting this call from our Lord and asking Him to deliver us from evil every step of the way.

"May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do this."
(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, NRSV)



Oh Father,
There is no god before you, we ask that you will help our lives to reflect that truth.  We thank you for never giving up on your children.  Shape us and lead us and grow us into the likeness of your Son!  Father, we cast all idols aside, we turn from fornication of all kinds, and we ask that you strengthen us in our walk toward sanctity.
In the name of Christ Jesus we pray,
Amen.

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