Consecration is not only what you set yourself apart from. If you ‘set yourself apart from’ but do not ‘set yourself apart unto’, it amounts to nothing. It’s the purpose of ‘setting ourselves apart to’ that makes ‘setting ourselves apart from’ meaningful. If this purpose is missing, it can rather lead to sin-consciousness. Living on mountains and caves away from the activities of life will not stop sin from reaching your mind. Thus, the goal is not to distract yourself from the distraction. It is to participate in what the distraction wants to distract you from.
The true mark that something belongs to God alone is consecration. Romans 6:13 says “do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” The true mark that you belong to God is that you consecrate yourself unto Him. Not just yourself but your body, your gain; your all. Why? He gave Himself up for you so you could give yourself up for Him.
The Consecration of Christ
God did not need to do what He did for us. He wouldn’t have been out of character to destroy us because per His justice, He is justified in destroying all humanity in His wrath. However, He demonstrated His Eternal Love as never before known. Michael is a creature of His Power. Lucifer was a creature of His Light. You are a creature of His Love. It cost God to have you. Christ gave Himself up for you. He is God, yet, He relinquished His God-abilities to take on flesh. For the very first time, God could be tired, God could be hungry, God could be betrayed. All because of you.
He gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Why won’t you give up everything to become like Him? The hefty price Jesus was willing to pay demanded that He lived a sinless life from the beginning up until the end. He was without spot or blemish so that He meets the requirements of the justice system of God. Yet, He didn’t die as a child but a full grown man with all the hormones. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. In the days of His flesh, He consecrated Himself for you.
Christ died to consecrate you unto God. He is the only way to the Father. Without Him, you have no right to stand before God, talk less of having a relationship with Him. It is the biggest sacrifice in all eternity. Jesus literally put everything on the line to reconcile you back to God, knowing very well some will even still reject His sacrifice. Will you? Make up your mind and heart to live wholeheartedly for Him without shame or compromise. He died naked on the Cross, beaten and crucified and despised by the very people He came to die for. He gave His all for all of you.
Your Consecration is the Only Reasonable Response
You’re not doing God a favour by consecrating yourself to Him. The life of Adam died and the only life you have is the Eternal Life you have in Christ. The only power you have in this equation is the power of choice. Worship cannot be authentic if there was no other choice. You have to see that the only reasonable choice you have is to dedicate your living to God so His Spirit can live His life through you. You’re not indebted to the flesh because death no longer holds any legality over your life.
God has every right to tell you what to do. He has the right to place a demand on you at any time. He is your Lord. Of course, He has that right as your Creator, God, Father and Lover. Don’t use your power of choice as a leverage to think there are no legal demands and expectations of God upon your life. You’re literally His servant. Just because He is not forcing you doesn’t mean it’s not required of you. The life you have in Adam is dead. The only life you have now is Christ’s. You are eternally indebted to Him and He didn’t force you. That’s why you willingly gave your life to Him.
Winning the Battle Against Desecration
We have three main battles that we have overcome and need to practically sustain victory over in this life; the flesh, the world and the devil. If you have not overcome your flesh practically, you are no match for the systems of the world practically. A man who has not conquered himself cannot conquer the world. If you have sin in you, the god of this world has something on you. His goal is not to fight you boot for boot but to desecrate you. My prayer for you is that when the god of this world comes, he will find nothing of him in you.
When you wage war against the kingdom of darkness, they will simply exploit your weaknesses. If you love anything at all above God, that will be your downfall. Christ literally condemned sin in His flesh so stop using sin as an excuse not to consecrate yourself unto God. Sin is not more powerful than the life you have in Christ. Make up your mind to please God and live a life consecrated unto Him. The life He gave you is a holy life. The Spirit He gave you is the Holy Spirit. The Word He gave you is the Holy Scriptures. If it were not possible to live a holy life, He wouldn’t have commanded you to.
You are made holy and accepted so make up your mind and heart to live holy and acceptable. It takes intentionality to live a life of sin as a born-again believer. That same intentionality is what is used in living a holy life. By holy life, I not only mean setting yourself apart from but also setting yourself apart unto God. We are called to live a sinless life. If we do sin, our Advocate speaks for us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to make us sinless again so we can continue on our journey of pleasing God.
Forget about satan for a second. Consecration is an eternal disposition. When Lucifer abandoned his consecration, he became satan. God doesn’t accept just anything. No! He only accepts what is consecrated to Him. If He puts you in an office, gives you a gift or blesses you in any way, there is a level of consecration expected of you to sustain it. The day Lucifer looked at himself instead of God, iniquity was found in him. Even if sin wasn’t in the equation, the ordinance of consecration will still exist because it existed before sin.
Covenanted Consecration
Consecration is never by accident or automation. It is intentional and must be ordained on the premise of the testament. We all have one covenant with God in Christ. It is called the New and Eternal Covenant. Every other personal covenants is tied to and realized in this One. By being eternal, it means it has no end. By being eternal, it means everything it makes available is equally eternal. The backend of the blessing is consecration. Whatever God gives is holy and must be dedicated to Him. Consecration reminds you that you’re a steward and God is the true owner of it all, including your very body.
In practical terms, if God wants to make you a kingdom financier, there are special consecrations expected of you as so sustain that blessing. As a kingdom financier, giving is your consecration. Consecrated giving means you cannot support God’s Kingdom and the other kingdom. It means your income shouldn’t be made by or given to vices. Your giving should be out of love and must kill pride and greed out of you. It’s not as fun as we make it seem. Anything that thrills the flesh abhors the Spirit. Your giving will make your flesh squirm, stretch your faith and leave you waiting on God most times. Because indeed, you are a channel, a vessel, a partaker.
Your consecration should not be haphazard. It must be structured. In the beginning, you’ll think you’re doing well because you decided to wake up at night to pray. Actually, God is the One who placed that demand on you. You’re not doing it out of performance or because your prayer is what sustains your blessings. No! That mindset will let you think God is now against you on days where you fail. However, you’re doing it out of covenanted love. Thus, you have decided; on days you feel like or don’t feel like, when you have enough or don’t have at all, when it’s convenient and when it’s not, in good times and bad times, you are dedicated.
How to Daniel in Babylon
Your consecration ought to be part of your everyday routine. The systems of this world have already made sure that your desecration is part of everyday life. Consecration demands that you come out from among them. You have to leave Egypt and Egypt has to leave you. Goshen, as good as it is, is not the Promised Land. From Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 6, Isaiah realized that the people he lived amongst was part of the reason why he was unworthy to dwell amongst the divine beings in the courts of Heaven.
However, you’re not always going to have the comfort of a consecrated conclave. Mount Zion is dedicated to God but the likes of Nehemiah, Esther, Joseph and Daniel did not have the luxury of living in such a place. Christians have been known to desist other Christians from taking up such positions in high places because of the level of corruption that dwells around it. That’s true. That notwithstanding, those called to sit those high places as holy servants of God should be mindful of the kind of consecration that ought to sustain.
Esther had a Mordecai. Daniel had the three Hebrew boys. Joseph had no one for a long time until his family arrived. If possible, have someone. You’ll need a company of people. Your surroundings may be evil but your environment must be holy. Your inner circle will keep the holy fire. There’s a level of wealth that goes beyond your input. There’s some kind of money that when you get, mammon will come and look for you.
There’s some level of influence that when you about to attain, satan will be attracted to you. There’s a kind of political power that if you’re able to sustain by your own strength, a secret society will approach you. Life has always been spiritual. It will shock you to know that in board rooms where the destinies of nations are on the line, everyone shows up with supernatural backing.
If you’re not backed, you’ll be unexplainably eliminated without trace. A Daniel in Babylon should be aware of this. An Esther should never attempt to approach the king without having fasted and prayed with her kindred. Life is a battle. Those who avoid battles will not reach anywhere and will settle for a mediocre life.
What Must I Do?
Having understood what Christ has done for you and having reasonably responded and understood that you ought to live a life of consecration, you are asking what it practical things you have to do in your everyday life to live a consecrated life. I only talked about kingdom financiers and Daniels in Babylon. You may be a singer or a career woman etc. Jesus is the template for living. The Holy Spirit is the instructor for personal living. The life you have is unique to you. God’s purpose for your life is as unique as the consecrated life you ought to live.
John the Baptist could not drink wine but Jesus’ first miracle was wine. There’s what generally cuts across but there are perculiar things God will outrightly tell only you to do or not do. You can’t copy and paste someone else’s consecration. That’s why I always desist from giving detailed prescriptions. Follow Christ as your template and heed the Holy Spirit’s clear instructions. In this season, as you intentionally make up your mind to live a consecrated life, may the Holy Spirit reveal to you on a daily basis how to ought to live your life to please the Father.
AMEN