Numbers 31:23
Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
A big business in today’s society is the purified water business. People regularly purchase purified water instead of drinking water from the faucet because they believe all contaminants have been removed by the company that sells the purified water. Amazingly, people will pay a good price for purified water but won't pay the price to have a purified life from sin. As much as you think that you need purified water to drink, you need your life to be purified so much more.
When Israel returned from their battle with the Midianites, God told them to purify anything that had touched a dead body or anything that they brought home that the Midianites used to own. God said to purify with fire, and anything that could not withstand a fire needed to be purified with water. There is a great truth in this command that shows the believer three things that it takes to purify their lives.
First, God purifies one’s life through His Word. Water is always symbolic of God’s Word. When God talks about purifying His church, he says in Ephesians 5:26, That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Nobody has ever cleansed their life without God’s Word. You can try psychology to clean your life, but without God’s Word your life will continue to have the contaminates that destroyed it. Man’s ways try to clean up the outside, but God’s Word goes within and does a deep clean on the inside. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us of this when it says, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. A daily walk in God’s Word is like a daily shower; His Word does a deep clean in the heart and mind of the believer so they can be purified from the contaminants of sin.
Second, God purifies one’s life through trials. God told Israel to send things through the fire to purify them of the contaminants of the Midianites. God uses trials to purge us from those things that contaminate our lives. To run from trials is to run from God’s cleansing agent to purify your life so that He can use you in a greater way. We need trials because we need to be purged from things that hurt us from being a better testimony for God. Without trials, you will never see your weaknesses; so you need trials to become a better servant for God.
Third, God purifies one’s life through separation. God says in the verse above, it shall be purified with the water of separation. God’s Word can clean you, trials can purify you, but without living a separated life, you will be contaminated again by the filth that God’s Word and trials cleansed. Not living a separated life is like taking a shower and immediately returning to the same mud hole that soiled you. There is no purpose for cleansing if you go back to that which soiled your life and mind. Once God’s Word and trials have purged you and done a deep clean in your heart and mind, you need to separate your life from anything or anyone who could soil your life again. If you want to have and live a purified life, these three things are essential because contamination will continue without them.
Comments