As I was reading the Book of Isaiah recently in the very idiomatic Message version, I came across a passage that really "jumped out" at me: "Purify yourselves in the process of worship" (Is. 52:11).

It jumped out because God has been increasingly driving home to me the importance of integrity in the marketplace—that, as much as God promises us prosperity and blessings, he equally demands holiness and purity. With the "showers of blessing" come trials and tests—He is a God of cleansing fire as much as He is a God of overflowing abundance.

We are promised in the Word, I believe, an end-time wealth transfer, when God starts to bring the wealth of the "wicked" over to God's people (Prov. 13:22). But the wealth that God brings will flow through us, as His channels in the marketplace. And the wealth will only flow in its full power when we are clean and pure vessels; when the flow is unimpeded.

According to the verse quoted above from Isaiah, God is telling us that we can be purified—cleansed and made holy—in the very "process of worship." What an incredible revelation!

Our worship is not just what we do in church once or twice a week, but how we live each and every day. Our lives are our worship, whether we are working at our daily job, looking after children, talking with friends, or just resting and enjoying recreation. Our very lives constitute our worship and this verse tells us that as we live our lives in worship to God, whatever we are doing, we are purifying ourselves and making ourselves "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12).

Worship and Purification Go Together

In the book of Nehemiah, worship and purification are again linked: "For they performed the worship of their God and the service of purification, together with the singers and the gatekeepers, in accordance with the command of David and of his son Solomon" (Neh. 12:45, NASB). Nehemiah is all about working and doing practical things, re-building and restoring the gates and walls of Jerusalem ... and yet, in the process, Nehemiah led the people in worship and purification.

As long as we let God cleanse us and keep us pure, we remain useful and pliable vessels to carry out His will in our lives. When we are open and pliable and clean, we can be "channels of water controlled by God," directed to "whatever end He chooses" (Prov. 21:1). We are open to God's leading, and available to move when and where He chooses.

When we are open to God's Word and leading, we can trust Him and obey Him in total surrender and faith, and enjoy the success and blessings He has in store for us (Proverbs 3:5 and 6). A "long life, riches and honor" (Prov. 3:16) are all available to us, as we purify and cleanse ourselves in our daily workaday worship.