When it comes to greatness, majesty, glory, and power, there is no one like God. He stands apart from everyone and everything.
1 Samuel 2:2 (ESV)
2 “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Who besides God could have created the heavens and the earth just by speaking the word (Genesis 1)? Who besides God knows what you are going to say even before the words are formed on your tongue (Psalms 139:4)? Who besides God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient? God is truly holy.
The only thing left for us to do is sanctify Him in our hearts.
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
What does it mean to sanctify God in our hearts? The word sanctify is from the Greek word hagiazō. Vine defines it as follows:
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.
“to make holy” (from hagios, “holy”), signifies to set apart for God, to sanctify, to make a person or thing the opposite of koinos, “common;”
The word hearts is from the Greek word kardia. Strong defines it as, “the heart, i.e. (figurative) the thoughts or feelings (mind)(Strong’s Greek & Hebrew Dictionary). So, to sanctify God in our hearts means to set Him apart in our minds as one who is special and more important than the common things that occupy our hearts. When God is elevated in our minds above everything else, His Word, ways, and will, take priority in our lives.
This sanctification of God always leads to faithful living. The unfaithful child of God has allowed something or someone to take priority over Him in his or her mind, which translates into some kind of unfaithfulness. It usually starts with forsaking the assembling of the saints and then snowballs into other areas.
When we sanctify the Lord God in our hearts it will impact every area of our lives. We will think right, talk right, and live right consistently. It will influence the way we dress, the way we entertain ourselves, and the way we treat others. It will determine what kind of husbands and wives we are, what kind of parents we are, and what kind of citizens in society we are. It will lead us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in our daily lives and keep us on the right track toward heaven.
Finally, sanctifying God in our hearts is not something we do just once. We must do it anew every day. Every morning you should remind yourself that whatever the day brings, God will be on your mind in all the decisions that you make, the actions that you take, and the conversations that you have. Let us all make sure that we do not live one day without God being set apart in our hearts.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.