Minister’s Corner: Sanctify yourselves

In Joshua 3:1-6 KJV, we see that the children of God were now ready to cross into Canaan Land and receive their inheritance. But before they could do that, they had an obstacle to conquer. That obstacle was the Jordan River, which would normally not pose a threat at the sight they chose, which was at Gilgal. The Jordan River was about 100 feet across at that point. However, the Lord had brought them to this spot at harvest time when the Jordan has inundated its banks and was a mile wide. They could not cross the river without divine intervention, and that is just what God supplied. He gave a command for the people to step out in faith, and when they did so, the waters backed up to the city of Adam, which was some 20 miles away.
Prior to this miracle, however, Joshua instructed the people to “sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Joshua was calling his people to examine themselves and confess their sins and be as clean and holy as possible. They were to put away anything that was not pleasing to the Lord. Then, and only then, could they expect the Lord to move on their behalf.
The same is true today for us. Many of us want to claim the promises of God and we want our prayers answered. However, we continue to live in sin and defilement having things our own way rather than submitting to the Lord. We want our cake and we want to eat it too. It doesn’t work that way. When we confess our sins before the Lord and walk as the Spirit leads us, we can expect the Lord to look with favor upon us. We need to practice obedience in all things toward the Lord.