The Cross and Consecration

What is consecration?

Consecration  -  King James Dictionary
Consecration does not make a person or thing holy, but declares it to be sacred, that is, devoted to God or to divine service as the consecration of the priests among the Israelites the consecration of the vessels used in the temple

Consecration  -  Easton's Bible Dictionary
The devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated 

The 1^st page of chapter 6 reads;

"a dear friend tried again and again to give himself fully to the Lord, but without success. He was perfectly sincere about continually consecrating himself to the Lord but was always falling short. After some time, he came to discover that he had missed the very basis of consecration of making his life a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

Does this sound like something you struggle with time and time again? Please explain.

The author continues to write about his friend’s experience; “my friend found the truth through God’s example on how the Old Testament priests were consecrated. It was here that he began to understand the powerful meaning of consecration through the blood, as the blood would be placed on the priest’s ear, on his thumb, on his toe and sprinkled all over with the blood. Let’s read Exodus 29:20 Then slaughter it and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. Like the priests of old, we must be willing to consecrate (make holy) our lives onto God. What are your thoughts on how God began to consecrate His people to Himself? Let’s look at these scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you. 1 Peter 1:13-16 “So, prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So, you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy”. Romans 6:13-19  “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So, use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living, Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy”. Revelation 1:5-7  “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” This chapter was difficult for me to grasp. What I was able to understand is that we have the power over sin because of what Jesus did at Calvary by becoming God’s sacrifice for our sins. And now that we have been redeemed by His precious blood, we have the power to consecrate our lives unto God. The power to consecrate our lives comes from above, and it is yours. This is where the victory over sin is found. So many times, Christians walk around defeated feeling condemned and trying to overcome sin on their own merit, strength, ideas or ways; rather than dying to self and surrendering to Christ, who has made us holy through His sacrificial love and given us the power over sin. May we identify with the powerful work done on the cross and may the Holy Spirit continue to reveal to us the wonderful work of Jesus at the Cross. Let’s walk in the power and in the victory that Jesus so freely gave and let the church pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to fall afresh upon God’s people, that with a heart of gratitude we will pick up our cross and follow Jesus.  What has the Holy Spirit revealed to your heart?