That's a biggish word. Wikihow explains "consecrate" like this:
"To “consecrate” yourself essentially means to wholly dedicate yourself to something of greatest import. When spoken plainly, however, "consecration" refers to the act of setting yourself aside and dedicating yourself to a deity, and that deity almost always refers to the God of Christianity."
People can consecrate themselves to just about anything, but when one is talking about following God's Word, one is declaring their self as being dedicated to God; living for and glorifying Him.
In Old Testament times, God asked Moses to consecrate Aaron and sons for the Tabernacle ministry; for things relating to God (Exodus 29:1-14). They had to be morally and ceremonially clean...walking, talking, breathing, holiness. An offering of themselves to His service.
Exodus 30:30 (ESV) you see Moses' obedience right along side of his brother Aaron and his sons.
"You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests..."
They had been "set aside" for this very special purpose and service.
They used a holy oil used only for the purpose of consecrating those who were to be serving God as priests. (Exodus 30:31)
There was a definite time at which they were proclaimed, "consecrated".
For us of New Testament times, we will distinguish ourself as belonging to God, as a Christian or follower of Jesus Christ. We will become more and more, Christ-like. Some people may pronounce their dedication to Jesus Christ and His Father God through the act of baptism and perhaps a further one through some other ceremony of public declaration.
The New Testament points us to the multitudinous ways in which we can consecrate ourselves. The very act of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, receiving the gift of salvation and everlasting life, makes us pure and holy (righteous) in God's sight "setting us aside" for His good service.
However, in the eyes of our fellow man, and of examining of ourself, we need the continual mindset of consecration; that of, becoming holy as God is holy. The New Testament is chock full of ways to do this. The book of James is a good place to start. Go for it. Read. Obey. Be blessed. Become more consecrated. Read some more. Obey some more and so on...
Decide to dedicate yourself to this and to God Himself.
Be constant. Be steady. Be devout.
The story of Ruth in the Old Testament is a favorite one with me. She was dedicated to Naomi her mother-in-law, to Naomi's people, and more importantly, to Naomi's God. Her famous declaration comes down through time immemorial and reverberates in the heart. She proclaimed to Naomi,
"Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." (Ruth 1:16-17 ESV).
Doesn't that blow you away?!
Paul's commendation of Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2 (ESV) is of similar effect,
"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need form you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well." [emphasis mine]
Phoebe was "a servant" and "a patron" who dedicated herself to serving others out of her love for the Lord Jesus Christ. She deserved such honorable mention.
Another woman of God who was of equal devout caliber, who consecrated herself to God despite her earthly disappointment, was Anna. She had not had a husband for long before she had become a widow. She did not sit back in self pity, as Ruth had not. Where do you see Anna for all those years, from early widowhood to the aged age of 84? So many years of faithfulness. Look...
"She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day" (Luke 2:36-38 ESV).
She had consecrated herself to these things of God. What was her reward? She got to see Jesus who had just been brought in to the temple by His parents who had come to fulfill the "custom of the Law" for the child (Luke 2:27 ESV). Anna's response was,
"...to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38 ESV).
She would have missed out on such a monumental moment if she had not been so consecrated. (Incidentally, she would have had to have been ceremonially clean to even be in the temple.) It erupted in praise and thanksgiving and a spreading of the good news that redemption had come.
These were consecrated women. There were plenty of consecrated men too. The disciples, (minus Judas Iscariot) were such men. From history, it is known that they had remained faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, most of them being martyred for it. The apostle Paul himself too, remained steadfast through the thick and thin of much horrendous mistreatment as he spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the nations. He too, died a martyr's death.
We do not have to be a martyr though to have consecrated status. Becoming more holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16), setting ourselves aside for God's service and ministry and running the race to the finish line. Paul wrote to Timothy,
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7 ESV).
Our service to God may be to be a housewife and mother, looking after one's own children. Teaching them of God's ways, first having kept them one's self, is also a consecration that requires time, effort and persistent and consistent endurance. Timothy's mother and grandmother were the joint taskforce behind Timothy's faith and dedication to service to God in his life.
Paul penned some further lines to Timothy, encouraging him in his "holy calling". In 2 Timothy 1:8-10 (ESV) we read,
"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering of the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
May we each allow God's Word to daily consecrate our lives with inner holiness as we surrender and pledge ourselves to Him and for His good service. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Give thanks with a grateful heart.
~ERC June 2019~
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