Isaac Went Out to Meditate in the Field toward Evening
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening…(Genesis 24:63, ESV).
In our fast-paced world, Christians often find engaging consistently with God’s Word challenging. Yet, delving deeper into Scripture’s truths requires meditation. Consider Isaac’s example in Genesis 24:63.
Isaac chose the tranquility of the evening field for his meditation. Was this a spontaneous choice or a regular practice? The context suggests it was habitual; Isaac regularly carved out time for reflection. The nature of his meditations remains unknown, but they likely centered on God and the promises made to his father, Abraham. Perhaps Abraham himself instilled this practice in Isaac.
Isaac went out to the field to meditate—the desert was his quiet place. However, you do not have to go to a mountain or desert to meditate. Your quiet place can be in your room, where you can be free of distractions or noise. Furthermore, Isaac meditated in the evening. He was an evening person. Many of us today meditate rather in the morning. While Isaac chose the desert and the evening, the key lesson is not in the specific details of his meditation routine. Here is the essential truth: Isaac had a place and a time for meditating in God’s Word and a habit of doing so regularly.
It’s crucial to distinguish biblical meditation from Eastern mystic practices, subtly integrating into Christian circles. Biblical meditation focuses on God and His words.
Like Isaac, develop a meditation habit and carve out your quiet place and time. This habit has a huge potential impact on your spiritual life and relationship with God. It is worth all the personal investment.
Meditate
Take a few minutes to meditate on Genesis 24:63 in light of the devotional above.
Apply the Word
Do you meditate on the Word of God? How is your devotional habit? Learn from Isaac: retreat daily to spend time with God in His Word and prayer.
Pray
Ask the Spirit to help you develop a healthy habit of regularly meditating on the Word of God.
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)
As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.
Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.
There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.
In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.
This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,
“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)
This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.
Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)
Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.
He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.
Meditate
Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?
Apply the Word
This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.
Pray
Ask the Lord to help you in your daily walk of sanctification.
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