FRIDAY September 14, 2018
A Living Sacrifice
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2
Consecration––it is your reasonable service to the Lord. Have you given Him your eyes? Your hands? Your feet? Your body? Every part of yourself should be completely given to God so He can do as He wills with your life. In the Old Testament, the priest would take the oil and place it on his right hand, his right toe and right ear. This is so he could do the work of God with his hands, walk in the ways of God, and hear the things of God. That was a part of the ministry.
The root meaning of the word consecration in the Old Testament means “holy, or holiness.” In Hebrew it is Qadash, a verb which means to be consecrated, to be dedicated or to be holy.” Anything that is holy is set apart. It is removed from the realm of the common, and it is moved to the sphere of the sacred. I like that. This is what God has done with our lives. We are not to be common, but we are to be separated from the common, because God has called us to a consecrated life, a dedicated life, and to a holy life.
In the New Testament, in the Greek, the concept of consecration is holiness. There are three main words in the Greek culture that are associated with the idea of holiness. Hieros which is reflective of ritual holiness. It is only found twice in the Bible, and used in 1 Corinthians 9:13, and 2 Timothy 3:15. But hagios reflected the divine will of human obligation to God––to be separated, to be consecrated to God. Hosios reflected piety and devoutness to God. Holiness is accomplished by the anointing and leading of the Holy Spirit in my life. It is not the work of men, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit and of God.
What is holiness except Christlikeness?
~John R. W. Stott~
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