Consecration: The Blessed Life

"Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel."—Joshua 14:14

Contributed

There is a true Christian life which, in comparison with that experienced by the majority of Christians, is as different as summer is from winter or as the mature fruitfulness of a golden autumn is to the struggling promise of a cold late spring. It is such a life that Caleb might have lived in Hebron, the city of Fellowship; or the Apostle John lived when he wrote his epistles. It may be fitly termed the blessed life: consecration.

The Source of Blessedness

The blessedness of this life lies in this: we trust our Lord to do for us and in us what we cannot do for ourselves. All is done according to our faith. The weary spirit, which has vainly sought to realize its own ideals by its own strivings and efforts, now gives itself over to God through Christ, who at once begins the task to will and to do his own good pleasure, delivering such a one from the tyranny of besetting sin and fulfilling in him his perfect will.

This blessed life should be the normal life of all consecrated Christians—in our work and in our rest; in the building up of the new spiritual creature; and in the working out of one’s calling in a perfect life-plan. This is God’s purpose now, but only for the children that he is calling. The youngest and the weakest may claim it equally with the oldest and the strongest. It should be stepped into at the moment of consecration, without wandering about in the heat of the desert wilderness for forty years, or lying for years on the porch of the house of mercy. The first step into this blessed life is contained in one word: consecration. It is enforced by what the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 4:13, "For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be an heir to the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

The Gift of Self

Many would gladly give anything—money, time, energy, but not themselves. None of these will be accounted as a sufficient substitute to our blessed Lord, who not only gave us all that he had, but himself as well, as a ransom for all. All he asks is that we be all for him as he was all for us. We must pass through Jordan to the land of rest; through the narrow and strait gate of consecration, for it alone leads into the blessed life.

The foundation of consecration lies in the fact that we are Christ’s. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:20). As one author has said, "Let us step into the slave market and up to the auction block:

Man’s life was up for auction,
Offered for sale one day.
Two bidders were there to make their bids;
As the auctioneer began to say:
"Make me an offer, what do ye bid
"They are more than able for a good day’s work,
They are strong enough for the rigor.
Satan was there to bid for the man,
With the world’s offer of sinful pleasure
Jesus was there to bid for him too,
With the righteous life and its treasure.
Satan offered riches, position, and fame,
All that this evil world could give.
Jesus offered his precious blood,
That through the atonement man might live.

A Purchased Possession

Mankind are the Lord’s sheep. All they possess, all that they might earn, is his by right of purchase. The apostles all reasoned that thiswas so and they went about calling themselves "slaves of Jesus Christ." The Apostle Paul went so far as to say that he bore in his body the brandmarks of Jesus. Is this not so? Will not every person be Christ’s, whether now or in the kingdom?

The Father in heaven has given to his Son all who shall come to him. If any have already done this, coming to Jesus as Savior, he is included in this wonderful donation: "All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one that comes to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

The act of consecration is to recognize Christ’s ownership, to say with one’s whole heart, "Lord, I am thine by your right to own me, but I want to be yours by my own choice as well." In olden days the mighty men of Israel were willing to swim the rivers at their flood and come to David their uncrowned but God-appointed king. When they met him, they cried, "Thine we are, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse" (1 Chron. 12:18).

Why should we not say the same to Jesus? "Lord Jesus, I am yours by your right to have me, forgive me if I have lived so long as if I were my own. I now gladly recognize that you have a rightful claim to all I am and have." Let each fall into the right attitude of belonging to Jesus. The motto should always be the confession, "Whose I am and whom I serve" (Acts 27:23). There are some old lines that read like this:

Just as I am … thy love unknownHast broken every barrier down;Now to be thine, thine alone,O Lamb of God, I come.

Yielding All

Consecration is only possible when we give up our will about everything! When we can do this, give our wills to God through Jesus Christ, we are almost certain to become aware of not just one thing but several things in our lives which are out of harmony with God’s will for us. Even when we are able to surrender self on other points, here and there we exercise reserve and hold back. Now that we are in Christ, having consecrated our all to God, we must throw open the doors and windows of our hearts to a new occupant—Jesus!

If we submit every limb of our body but one to our Great Physician, we will find that the one not submitted will cripple us. To give ninety-nine parts and withhold but one will spoil the whole transaction. If we find we cannot give our all, we must ask the Lord to take all, especially that which seems hardest to give.

Here are some ways to accomplish this:

1. Use daily prayer and meditation.

2. Study the Bible every day, with all the helps provided for its understanding.

3. Seek forgiveness for every failure and ask to be restored.

4. Practice the habit of constant recollection of God and Jesus to your mind.

5. Be not as eager to work for God as to let God work through you.

6. Accept everything that happens to you as being permitted for your good.

Have we submitted every part of our body to the Lord? Will we take the step into the blessed life through consecration? If we do, we will never again give regard to questions concerning this mortal life that perplex. The heart will be filled and satisfied with true riches. As willing bondslaves of Jesus Christ we will seek to do the will of God and follow Jesus, the great and tender master.

Never fear him! He wants to take nothing from any of us except that which we want to give. This will happen when we see as he does the harm it is causing our consecrated lives. He will ask nothing of us that is inconsistent with his most perfect fitness and tenderness. "His yoke is easy and his burden is light" (Matt. 11:30). We do this, not for ourselves only but for all mankind, to whom the words of life may be spoken through the Christ, head and body, and through the new covenant in the kingdom soon to come. There, with a new heart, all may learn righteousness and take the first step into the blessed life of consecration—and live forever.