03/11/2026
How pure are our lives? Are we cleansed and holy, or still allowing something(s) to tarnish our relationship with God? Is His will paramount in our life, or are we still at the center of our universe? Where are we in the process of holiness? Perhaps we think we are basically doing well and that our faith is flourishing, and yet things keep popping up in our day-to-day lives that cause us to stumble. So, we repent, ask forgiveness, and begin again. If I am describing you today, well, you are not alone in your struggle and labor.
“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in our spiritual lives is to trip and fall over the same situation or sin time and time again, and although we realize we are falling, and find ourselves continuously praying for forgiveness as we pick ourselves up to begin our walks anew, we never seem to clear the field completely of those persistent impediments that stand in our way toward holiness.
I come from a long line of farmers; by the time I was a child, the fields of my grandfather’s farm had long been cleared for planting, but my mother would tell me stories of her father cutting trees by hand, pulling stumps with a team of mules, and about the entire family removing rocks from what now were perfectly plowed fields filled with thriving crops.
You have probably driven down a country lane and seen beautiful stone walls lining the road, and a lush pasture or field of crops on the far side. Those walls of rock were once obstacles that existed in that farmer’s field. The beautiful walls you see now were built as he removed them one at a time and stacked them along the periphery of his field to get some utility out of his hard labor. They are testament to a lifetime, and quite possibly many lifetimes, of perfecting and clearing that land as he and his family made it ready for the grasses, crops, or vines that would nourish their family, and those to come.
Our life is a lot like my grandfather’s fields, we must remove every tree, bush, weed, and rock, before our fields of faith are ready to be cultivated, and bear their fruit in abundance… each stone and root must be removed by hand. We begin with the big things and keep working until at last we must search for the smallest of things to pick up. This is not an easy task and takes a lifetime, but as we work steadily at pulling up the stumps, burning them, and piling the rocks into beautiful walls alongside our fields, our harvests are growing. If we allow these things to remain then our fields will never produce as they should. So, if we trip over an obstacle in our field of faith then we should kneel down and remove it so that it won’t be a constant encumbrance to our walk towards holiness... this is the process of our purification, and it requires effort, persistence, and constant attention.
I was reading a devotional by Pastor Andrew Murray this morning and he had compiled a list of the work that lies ahead of us as we perfect our fields of faith. Let’s read what he had to say…
“[Cleansing] In relation to God, it manifests itself in idolatry, whether it is in the worship of other gods, the love of the world, or doing our will rather than His will. In relation to others, it shows itself in envy, hatred, a lack of love, cold neglect, or harsh judgement. In relation to ourselves, it is seen as pride, selfish ambition, and the disposition that makes self the center around which all must move and by which all must be judged.” - Andrew Murray
Earlier I referred to our journey towards holiness as a process and it certainly is, every day we go to the fields of our faith, and when we stumble, or hit something with our plow blade, we must stop, drop to our knees, and dig it out... remove it. We have the Word of God to show us what should remain and what should go, we have Jesus to lead the effort, and instead of a team of mules, we have the Holy Spirit to do the heavy work. Our labor and determination to worship God is our offering, and the sweat of our brow is the oil that anoints it. Then on the seventh day we rest and look back at our progress and thank God for it. This is how we become holy... one tree, one rock, and finally, one tiny weed at a time. Then, we thank God for each and every day.
“and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.”
Exodus 29:36-37 ESV
So, when I was a child on my grandfather’s farm I ate from the bounty of his fields, each meal was proceeded by prayer, and every Sunday began with worship, prayer, and thanksgiving. I was being led to holiness by touching my grandparents’ altar... one they had carefully constructed for this purpose. Are we constructing altars on the fields of our faiths? Are we clearing our fields and giving God thanks for the harvest he has provided us?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for giving me the strength each day to go into the spiritual fields of my life, and to perfect them as I become more like your Son Jesus Christ. I thank you for every rock and stone of sin that I am able to remove from them, and for the altar I carefully construct from those stones of righteousness that you find pure and acceptable. Holy Father, I ask that you receive my offering, and that the oil of my brow be pleasing to you. In your fields I may grow weary, but throughout the day you strengthen me. In your fields my muscles ache and are sore, but when evening comes you soothe me. And in your fields I hunger, and thirst, but you feed me and give me cool water. At the end of each day, I am exhausted and tired Lord, but you give me rest and rejuvenate me. In all these things I offer you thanks, and worship you, and when a new day dawns I reenter your fields of faith once more, and continue to serve you with a song on my lips. You are Great, and greatly to be praised! Help me Father in my perfection and make me Holy as Jesus is Holy. Let me touch the hem of his cloak and be healed; Let me touch the stones of your altar and find holiness in your presence there. Holy, Holy, Holy are you who loves me, and who, by your Holy Spirit and the abiding love of Christ, painstakingly perfects me. Then, perfected, and with my fields cleared of sin and worldliness, I pray that you will pronounce me sanctified, righteous, pleasing to you, and Holy.
“My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:20-23 ESV
Amen!
Rich Forbes