And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord (1 Thess. 5:23 KJV).
Did you ever hear of the story of the man who had a large house, but gave God only one room? When Satan came to the house, he ravaged everything, and buffeted the man. Then, in frustration, the man said to God: “I brought you into my house, thinking that with you here, I’d be safe, secure and protected against the enemy. Why didn’t you stop the devil?”
God answered him: “You gave me only this room, so I stayed in here and Satan could not come in. I can only take as much as you have given me.”
“O, I get it now; take these two additional rooms,” the man said.
The following night, the devil came again and pummelled him. He went again in utter frustration and said: “I’ve given you three rooms now; how come you still let the devil in?”
Then the Lord said: “The devil didn’t come into the rooms you gave me.”
The man finally received wisdom and said: “Okay, Lord, the whole house is yours; take everything!”
Then the devil came again; but this time, God’s angels were at the gate, and he couldn’t come in. For once, the man slept so peacefully. When he woke up, he said: “Lord, I had a wonderful sleep. Did you see the devil at all?”
God said: “I stopped him at the gate, because the house is now mine.”
You shouldn’t only give God your spirit, but also let Him have dominion over your body and your soul. If you let Him only into your spirit, He’d be there, but you’ll still think the wrong thoughts, and do the wrong things. You may not obey Him when He tells you, “Go to such and such a place and witness to so and so.” You’ll not follow his perfect will, though He lives in your spirit. Your body may be bruised and afflicted, because you have not allowed Him to take over your body.
If, on the other hand, you give Him your whole spirit, soul and body, He’ll prove Himself to you and show Himself strong on your behalf.
Prayer
Dear Father, thank you for blessing me with your Word. I yield my whole life to you, and declare that your perfect will is fulfilled in me today; Christ is exalted in my spirit, body and soul! My life is eternally for your glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further study
1 Thess. 5:23
1-year Bible reading plan – 1 Cor. 15:1-34; Prov. 5-7
2-year Bible reading plan – 1 Thess. 2:1-9; Jeremiah 17