In Joshua 3:5, Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

What does consecration mean? To consecrate yourself means set yourself apart. Set yourself apart in purity and offer yourself to the Lord for His purpose over your life. Choose life and pursue holiness in the areas of your life that have been dead due to sin. Pursue holiness in the areas of your life that have closed you off to the voice of God.  To consecrate is to set yourself apart to be the kind of vessel God can use fully. Now I know this will lead to conversations around judgement. To desire to be used fully by God and having an understanding and knowing that there are things God can never use you fully towards even though they are part of His plan for your life if you are not spiritually aligned is not a judgement but a sensitivity towards the presence and whispers of the Holy Spirit. The truth is, there are things we humans do, that silence and tone down the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  To consecrate ourselves therefore is to create capacity within ourselves as the vessels so that we can hear from God and to be of good use for the task at hand for us. Ready yourself. 

In the book of Romans 6:13-14 Paul writes, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer (consecrate) yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness”

This scripture tells us God has brought believers “from death to life” (John 5:24). Now they must not turn again to their old master, sin, and offer their hands and feet and eyes and ears and mouth to it. They have a new Master, the one true and living God, and they are to give to Him themselves and all they are and have (Rom 12:1).  As a believer then, to consecrate yourself or set yourself apart means you need to resolve to not offer your hands, feet, eyes, ears and mouth to your old master. 

Who is your old master, you ask? 

Your old master is anything that you bowed down to before you came into the full knowing of Christ. Your old master is anything that moves you away from a pure relationship with the Lord. Your old master is everything you do when no one is looking and would not be happy to testify about if it ever came out.  Your old master is the thing you do but you don’t want your fellow Christians to know you do even though you don’t consider it sin because it does not hurt anyone, but you are ashamed of people knowing you do. 

Shame is your conviction; it is the thing that occupies the space God wants to use in this vessel that is you.  In fact, I would go as far as saying shame is in the area you should consider consecrating. As born-again Christians we should not be carrying shame, Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven.  This is what should set us apart. No condemnation, no shame. 

How do you consecrate yourself? 

As a believer you consecrate yourself by pursuing righteousness. Proverbs 21:21 says “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” Daniel also shows us an example of this in Daniel 1, where we learn of a decision he made as a prisoner amongst many to not eat the King’s food because he was not aligned to the beliefs associated with the preparation. The bible tells us “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” Daniel was not just fasting as popularly known; He was deciding to pursue Holiness and offend the king if need be as long as He was not offending God because he knew that eating meat that was offered as a sacrifice to false Gods and then served to people to eat would be an abomination to God. God spoke to this in scripture Deuteronomy 12. Daniel wanted to be in good standing with the Lord about something he had a conviction about.

So, to me consecration is about conviction and obedience. When you have been convicted by the word of its truth, you should pursue that truth because that will set you apart. This will consecrate you.

Obedience reveals you are submitted, and submission is your place of authority. Whatever you submit to your life will reflect. If you are submitted to the world, the world will give you life; and if you submit to the word of God, the word will give you life. 
The power is not in the thing you do or not do, it is in your obedience. When you submit to the Lord it prevents your vessel from corruption.

The power is not in the staff Moses used to part the Red Sea, it is in obedience in the moment.
The power is not in the staff he used to strike the rock for water to come out, but the obedience to do. 
The power is not in the cloak Elijah put around Elisha, but Elisha’s obedience in being mentored.
The power is not the water or river the blind man had to wash his face in to see but the blind man’s obedience to an instruction the Lord gave.
The power is in the obedience, 

Not in my education
Not in my eloquence
Not in my bank account
Not on my negotiation skills
Not in my networks. 
Not in my popularity

The power is in my obedience to do what the Lord tells me to do in the season that He does.  We may all hear the same word, but how we respond, and move is what will bring us closer or further away from purpose.  

Perhaps this is an area you are praying about; you want to consecrate yourself in a particular area in your life or you just want to pursue Christ and don’t know where to begin. Please do drop me a mail on the email address here and I will definitely connect to pray with you. 

Be Blessed 

#QuenchMyThirst #ThirstyThursday 

Thank God, Jesus pursued me.

LM

Lungie@quenchmythirst.life