Consecrate yourselves by Nate Hayes
‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.’ Joshua 3:5
God is calling us to be a consecrated people in a time of compromise in the Western Church. Compromised Christianity offends no one, requires no sacrifice, costs nothing and is worth nothing. Jesus says, ‘if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot’ (Matthew 5:13). This is what the world is doing to the compromised Christianity in our nation, seen in the nose dive of church attendance within the Anglican Church. The only way back to seeing our churches renewed and revitalised, souls won for Christ and our city transformed is through wholehearted devotion to God; it’s through consecration.
Joshua compelled the Israelites before crossing the Jordan to consecrate themselves, for the Lord intended to do amazing things among them. The promised land was full of idols and Joshua knew the Israelites' propensity to be led astray by such things. Consecration consists of three things, cleansing, sacrifice and dedication. To live lives set apart for the Lord is to rid ourselves and repent of things in our lives that are displeasing to God. Things such as, experiences in false religions (New Age, the Occult, other religions), sexual sin, drunkenness, unforgiveness. We must sacrifice, placing our time, talents and treasure into the hands of God and saying your will be done. And we must dedicate our lives to God. I personally find it impossible to stay up to date with all that’s going on in the AFL, NRL and Rugby Union and also have enough space for prayer and reading scripture.
Consecration to the Lord is not a heavy yoke. As Paul writes, ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1 NKJV). The thing is, everyone consecrates their lives to something. Be it, a career, a relationship, a lifestyle, an image or a sports team. At its core, consecration to God is making room for love and devotion to Him. It is clearing out the rubbish from our hearts. It is taking back control of our time and redirecting towards God out of love for Him. John Wesley noted, ‘the best means of resisting the devil is to destroy whatever of the world remains in us in order to raise for God upon its ruins a building all of love.’ And that is why we consecrate ourselves, for love. Love for God and love for the people of our city who are far from God.
We are consecrated to a person. 1 Peter 2:9 says we are ‘God’s special possession.’ Too often we in the Church can believe the lie that God is a morality policeman out to write us a ticket, when in fact he is more like a lover searching for his beloved. Like how a prospective bride and groom prepare themselves for each other on their wedding day, so we the Church are called to prepare ourselves for the great wedding where Christ is united with his bride, the Church. We are consecrated for a purpose. God won’t love us any less if we don’t consecrate ourselves, but he will use you less. If we want to be used by God we need to live lives distinctly available to Him. We are consecrated for power. How might we, the Church, see revival on the Gold Coast? It certainly isn’t by human means. It is only by the power of God that we might see a great turning in our city and nation towards the Lord. Consecration prepares our hearts and shapes our character to steward the power of God. We don’t let children get behind the wheel of a moving vehicle because they lack the maturity and ability to drive. Similarly, God won’t give us his power to see masses converted, the sick healed and those in chains set free if we don’t develop the character to host his presence.
Lukewarm Christianity is not going to see the Gold Coast saved, sanctified and set apart for all that God has in store for it. It is Christians who have consecrated themselves to the Lord that He will use to reach our city with his love. Everyday in the daily office, Anglicans around the globe pray these words, ‘may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you.’ May that be our prayer as a church. May we be a community of believers whose hearts have been set on fire with love for God.
‘The greatest need of our day is for men and women who know how to walk with God, depend on the Spirit, and be led by Him in all things.’ Leonard Ravenhill