What do you and I need to do to walk in all that God has for us? In becoming who God wants me to be there is a lot that I dont have power to make happen. Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to walk in the identity that God has for us. He has done the work and does the work. We dont make ourselves holy or righteous. But we do have to put ourselves in a position to receive. We have to put ourselves in a position that receives the work that God wants to do.
If I am having guests I have to put aside the time to prepare for their arrival. I set aside a few hours to clean, make the bed in the guest room, prepare some special food. I set aside the time so that the work can be done and then when my guests arrive I am ready to enjoy them.
In order to prepare for all that God wants to do in you and me we do need to do something. We need to consecrate ourselves.
When I looked up the definition of the word consecrate, I found this very interesting definition at vocabulary.com.:
Consecrate means to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. You need to consecrate a building to turn it into a church, but you can also consecrate a week in New York City to the pursuit of the perfect bagel.
The secr part of consecrate comes from the Latin sacer "sacred." Remember that something consecrated is dedicated to God and thus sacred. And then remember that the meanings of words tend to stretch; over time this one moved from "dedicated to God" to "dedicated to whatever": jelly donuts, the perfect tan, finding a solution to Rubik's Cube.
There are a number of places in the Old Testament where the people are challenged to consecrate themselves. I dont think the intention was to dedicate themselves to “whatever”. Do you?
After that interesting description of the word consecrate, vocabulary.com gave this as the first definition: give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
A synonym of consecrate is devote. For you and I, to consecrate ourselves is to devote ourselves entirely to God. When we do that, then God can do what only He can do, what He wants to do in us.
Remember that old song Hopelessly Devoted to You? This poor, broken-hearted girl refuses to stop loving a guy who doesn’t love her. She gives herself entirely to someone who has rejected her. She gives herself to someone who gives her absolutely nothing. What a waste of energy and devotion! When you and I choose to give ourselves entirely to God we open the door to receive every blessing that He wants to shower on us. Instead of absolutely nothing, we get absolutely everything!
Have you consecrated yourself? Are you completely devoted to God? If you haven’t given yourself entirely to Gods purposes in and for your life, today is the day to do it. Once you completely and hopelessly devote yourself to Him you have put yourself in a position to receive the downpour of abundance that can only come from Him.
Give yourself fully and He will be able to bless you fully. That’s not hopeless!
Key thought: Give yourself entirely to God.
A Scripture to consider:
Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5 ESV
A YES challenge: Reflect on your choices and attitudes. Have you truly consecrated yourself to God? Make whatever changes necessary so that you can receive all that He wants to pour out on you.
Prayer: Lord, I want to receive all that You want to give me. I choose to consecrate myself. I set myself apart for Your purposes. I am Yours completely, hopelessly devoted to You and You alone. Amen.