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)