March 31

Read: Luke 11:9-13

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)

Sanctification Is A Privilege

Entire sanctification is fundamentally a privilege that God offers to us rather than a requirement exacted. This glorious grace is better than the good gifts that we plan for our children on their birthdays or at Christmas. It is true that God requires holiness of us, but it is doubtful if one can ever secure the blessing when seeking from a sheer sense of unwilling duty.

The duty of holiness must be stressed in order to arouse us if we are careless or indifferent — to show us that our hearts are already dangerously cold. But before we receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit we must sincerely desire heart purity because it is supremely desirable. Our Lord reminds us, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). In answer to the question, “In what manner should we preach sanctification?” Wesley replied, “Scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward… To those who are [pressing forward in the Christian life] always [present sanctification] by way of promise; always drawing, rather than driving.”

It is better for a husband and wife to remain together from a sense of duty than to separate and break up a home. But all truly happy marriages are built upon the mutual desire of one to be with the other. So it is with the Holy Spirit. He comes only when He is desired, when He is wanted, when He is sought. He comes to us only when we sincerely seek Him because we want Him more than we want anything else in the world.

Prayer For Today

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, the living God (Psalms 42:1-2).