Happy New Year to my Christian singles! I hope that you had a fun but safe New Year Eve’s celebration. Hopefully, you have recovered and are surveying the freshness of this brand new year, 2019.
Did you make any New Years’ resolutions? How are you doing so far this year? I’m doing okay, but it’s still day one.
Truthfully, I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions in years. I was always relieved that the past year was gone and focused on the promise of a new year. I also pressed into hope and lifestyle changes that would take time to establish.
In pondering the new things that might come up in 2019, the word consecrate came to me early in November. I was told by the Holy Spirit to consecrate myself for my future. What?!!
Images of Old Testament priests preparing themselves for temple service emerged in my mind. How I trained and prepared to be a summer missionary in undergrad was as close as I think I’ve ever been to being consecrated, so I had to learn what it really meant.
Consecrating one’s self, I discovered, beats being resolved.
According to thesaurus.com, resolve means “to come to definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something),” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/resolve accessed 11/28/18) but consecrate means “to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/consecrate?s=t accessed 12/13/18).
The Lord calls all of us who are His followers sacred and set apart. He has declared us to be both priests and kings, dedicated for His service.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:4-6 NKJV
The only other one who was both a priest and a king was the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 6:20; Matt. 27:11), so it is a choice privilege for heaven to identify us in this manner.
Holy priests and regal kings concentrate on the work they were called to do. In like manner, we have been set aside for Him, by Him, exclusively for kingdom work in every nation, language, and profession. We are not to be in the business of being used by the devil, family members, coworkers and supervisors, or any other people to do the work of the enemy.
Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. Leviticus 20:26 NASB
Yet He calls us to more than just the behavior of service. He calls us to consecrate ourselves and embrace the attitude of a royal servant of the Most High God:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 NASB
According to this common scripture, presenting ourselves to God as a living and holy sacrifice—i.e. consecration—is part of a lifestyle of transformation and worship.
My single friends, this year, let’s not make New Year’s resolutions, which can shift, change, or be abandoned. Instead, let us consecrate ourselves to the work that God calls all His children to.
My single friends, this year, let’s not make New Year’s resolutions, which can shift, change, or be abandoned. Instead, let us consecrate ourselves to the work that God calls all His children to. Click To TweetYou don’t have to drop everything and go to seminary or become an evangelist or a missionary consecrate yourselves to kingdom business. I’m not! You can consecrate yourself to Him. God allowed His people to set apart regular or even unholy things in Leviticus 27.
Don’t you set aside your toothbrush only to brush your teeth? Well, you’re a lot more important than a toothbrush; you can set yourself aside to be His kingdom ambassador!
He may have a different future for you than He does for me, but He still calls His people to set themselves apart for eternal outcomes.
Wherever you work, go to school, or engage in different activities in your community, you can consecrate yourselves to the work of the Kingdom of God. Consecration will last; resolutions don’t.
Let’s consecrate ourselves in 2019 and see what He does! I’d love to hear what’s happening with you in the weeks ahead as you dedicate yourself to the Lord.
