1 Thessalonians 5:23 – 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 Jesus Christ.
I was listening to Pastor Don Green preach the other day and he mentioned that he made a consecration of his life as a young preacher. Prior to that he had been pretty much going through the motions without a touch of God on his life. I am guessing the term “making consecration” used to be a lot more common. It probably needs to be in our modern vocabulary too. According to the Webster’s 1828 consecration is:
The act or ceremony of separating from a common to a sacred use, or of devoting and dedicating a person or thing to the service and worship of God – Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Has there been a time in your life where you have separated your life from a common use and turned it over to a sacred or holy use? A common use of your life would be to get a good job, get married, have some children, have some grandchildren, retire and live your life so that you are happy and prosperous. A sacred use would be setting your life apart for God to use as he pleases. A sacred life is one where God calls the shots and not you. If it is pleasing to God, then it is probably not going be pleasing to you all the time. In reality, if we give up our life and set it apart, he usually ends up blessing us with more than if we had lived a common life. The consecrated life involves holiness and worship. In other words, it is totally different than the common life.
According to I Thess 5:23, we see that God sanctifies the Christian or sets him apart for his service. It is necessary for the preservation of our spirit, soul and body if we are going to be blameless when he comes back. You are not going to hear a “well done good and faithful servant” at the judgement seat of Christ if you did not live a sanctified life. Has there been a time when you turned the wheel of your life over to the Lord? Have you ever made a consecration? Have you ever asked God to take a common, useless life and change into something that is sacred and holy. Only the Lord can ultimately do that. However, you must make the first step and come to him and ask him to use you. He will take care of the rest. You need to yield to him and not rebel.
2 Comments
Excellent blog post. Speaking of a married woman living a consecrated life, the Sacred use of her life WOULD involve the husband and children as top priorities placed there by God, along with her Bible reading and prayer. I have heard Christian women say, “I wish I could do something for God” and here they were with a house full of children, homeschooling, feeding, cleaning house, etc. They failed to see they WERE doing what God has ordained for them, something eternal in guiding their children as “keepers at home” do. Then as God opens doors and makes a way, other opportunities come. Great thought provoking devotion!
Praise the Lord. Glad you got a blessing. I whole heartedly agree.