Pray While You’re Prey Devotion Plan For Singles, Part VSample

Purify

Quote from Pray While You’re Prey:

“Each and every human who confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior has a never-ending obligation to seek holiness and righteousness in every deed.”

During the Lent season, forty days before Easter, many people of all different religions think of something to give up for forty days. I did not grow up observing Lent, so I do not know the purpose, and I am sure that each person must search his or her heart to know their true purpose of observing Lent. From what I have observed, most people go on this fast in order to grow closer to God, which is always a good thing as far as I am concerned.

Some people choose to give up particular foods or drinks: fatty foods, fried foods, chocolate, carbonated drinks, or alcoholic drinks. Some people give up behaviors like watching television or hanging out with certain people. I can see how in choosing to sacrifice things that we love we can honor God and grow closer to Him as we deny our fleshly desires. But why limit ourselves to just the Lent season?

Each and every day of our lives, we should be seeking to live a life that is a holy and acceptable sacrifice to God. We should constantly be seeking to purify ourselves. We should take inventory of our lives and notice any person or habit that has become an idol to us. We should be honest with ourselves and decide daily if we are putting God first in our lives or if we are living to please someone else, even if that someone else is the person we see in the mirror.

God sent Jesus to this earth to walk in human form and to show us that our lives can be lived without the filth and grime of sin. Yes, Jesus was God's Son, but he was also human and faced with every temptation with which any of us could ever possibly be faced. And yet Jesus was able to pass every test this world threw at Him, even unto death, just so that He could show us how to live and to help us know that He is there for us.

Admittedly, there have been times when I thought about fasting from certain foods or behaviors and the thought of not getting my daily nap or not getting to eat a Snickers bar has been terrifying. However, there is nothing scarier than knowing that I am consciously making the choice to include filth in my life on a daily basis and I am justifying it by pointing out all of the “good things” that I do. No, napping, eating candy, or drinking soda is not the filth; allowing ungodly thoughts, words, and actions into my life is the filth.

So, rather than trying to fast once a year, we all need to purify daily. We need to grow in Christ and grow closer to Christ. We must seek holiness and righteousness in every deed, and the only way to accomplish that successfully is through Christ who gives us strength.

Prayer

Thank You, God, for giving us all an example of One who could live life free from all impurities.

Please forgive me for ignoring areas of sin in my life.

Lord, please help me to purify and die to self daily, so that I can live in holiness and reverence for you.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen