Bible Reading: John 17 :9-21
Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. John 17:17
PA AND MA had spent their whole lives raising five sons in the backwoods, completely out of touch with modern culture and its technological advances. But now Pa reckoned it was time to see what city life was like. So he hitched their old, tired horse, Nellie, to the buggy, loaded the family in, and headed for the bright lights and skyscrapers of the big city.
Arriving in the heart of downtown, Pa and Ma and the boys wandered the streets, mouths dropped at the modern conveniences of the twenty-first century. Eventually they stepped into the lobby of a posh hotel to look around.
Pa’s attention was immediately drawn to a tiny little room with shiny brass doors. He watched with interest as a frumpy old lady walked up to the doors and pushed a button. Soon the brass doors slid open, the old lady stepped in, and the doors closed again. Pa watched curiously as lighted numbers flashed above. Then the doors opened and a gorgeous young woman in a tailored suit stepped out.
Pa’s eyes bugged with astonishment. “Boys,” he said to his sons excitedly, “go and get Nellie.”
Don’t you wish transformation was that easy-step into a little room, push a few buttons, and step out completely changed? Most Christians wish their sinful thought patterns and habits would magically disappear, making them pure and holy. You read verses like 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “God wants you to be holy,” and God’s command in 1 Peter 1:16, “You must be holy because I am holy.” You ache to follow God’s instructions, but by the end of practically every day your actions and attitudes slap you in the face, reminding you how unholy and impure you are. If getting pure and holy is up to me, you might think, it’s never going to happen.
Do you realize that Jesus prayed about your struggle only hours before he was crucified? He asked his Father to make you pure and holy. How? Look again at his prayer in John 17:17: “Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth.” David understood this principle, writing, “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules” (Psalm 119:9).
Every time you dig into and digest God’s words of truth, Christ’s prayer for purity is being answered in you. Purity happens when you daily welcome God’s Word into your life. The transformation might not be as quick and dramatic as the wonder Pa thought that little room with the shiny brass doors could work. But you are being changed, because that’s what Jesus prayed for.
REFLECT: How does it make you feel that Jesus would pray for your purity and that God would send his Word so it could happen?
PRAY: Tell God how you feel about his support.
