The “C” s THAT WILL HELP YOU (21)- CONSECRATION
A dear friend used a powerful illustration once: If you have two bowls that look similar- you use one in the kitchen and another in the restroom. Then one day, you had a visitor who did not know the difference. You just met the two bowls in the kitchen. You are not sure of the one for the kitchen nor of the one for the restroom. What will you do to the bowls?
Most likely, you will begin to use both for the restroom. You will then get a new one for the kitchen. Why? By the mix-up, you were no longer sure of the one you had separated for each use.
Consecration is separation unto the Lord for specific use and purpose. Consecration means that there are things that others are permitted to do (even when not sinful) that you must never do. Consecration means you know the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of your journey.
We are indeed all children of God but consecration can set you apart in certain areas. One of the consecrations of Samson was the seven locks on his head that no blade should touch. Once he took his consecration for granted, that was also the beginning of his fall.
When you understand consecration, you do not joke with anything that will make you lose the ground that you have gained spiritually or gained in obedience to the instructions of the Lord.
There are ministers of the gospel who would never watch a movie (especially Nollywood or Hollywood). Why? They have laid it down into the Lord. You would not find them in cinemas. It is not sinful to watch a movie however, they have seen from experience that some of the unholy, casual sex scenes, nudity, and all affect the state of their mind. They cut it off.
There are others who would not miss a particular hour of prayer or a season of fasting. They have kept this routine for many years. It is the secret of their stability. They do not joke with it. It has become a consecration.
When Abraham told Eleazar to get a wife for Isaac from his own family and his own kinsmen. Eleazar envisages intelligently that he may get a woman who does not want to come to where Abraham or Isaac was. He asked Abraham a simple question:
The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
Genesis 24:5 NIV
You just need to perceive the tone of Father Abraham rightly. He would not take such chances.
“Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”
Genesis 24:6-8 NIV
Did you see the tone?
“Make sure you do not take my son back there”
“Only do not take my son back there”
His tone was final- On no grounds should we lose the grounds we have gained in obedience to God.
Listen, anything (I mean anything) that makes you lose the grounds you have gained in obeying God is an attack on your consecration- it could be a new guy or fresh babe, it could even be a new job or promotion at work or it could be a new set of friends or your new love for a particular way of living.
Ask yourself- “What are the lines I must never cross?” Please, do not stay at the edge. You need to be close to a pit to fall into it. Do not allow mixtures ot mix-ups that reduce the potency of your assignment and the richness of your walk with God.
When there is a mix-up, you become only useful for the least demands and not for higher purposes any longer. Do not take consecration for granted.
temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa