We were buried with
Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also
should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete
sanctification without going through a “white funeral”-the burial of the old
life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death,
sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white
funeral,” a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of
Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for
only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days?
You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really
experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement.
Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the
intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and
continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to
death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously
deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark
as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory
with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim,
“Yes, it was then, at my ’white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification . . .”
(1
Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you
will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you
willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of
agreement depends on you.
(Taken from Oswald Chambers – “My Utmost
for His Highest” January 15)