24 Nov 2023

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). A similar call is also given in the New Testament from the writings of Apostle Peter.

Consecration and repentance are one. Repentance is a change of mind issuing in a change of life. Godliness has to be founded on repentance from the start. Repentance means a right-about-turn and a quick march in the direction opposite to that in which we were going before (familiar to those in National service?- We are ‘soldiers’ of Jesus Christ).

The original direction was the path of self-service, in the sense of treating yourself as God and seeking gratification for self accordingly. Take note that we can be involved in Chrisian service and yet be seeking self-gratification – we can crave for recognition from fellow believers for our ‘service’; we take offence when others ‘put us down’; we are prepared to put others aside as long as we can stand on the pedestal (treating ourselves as God).
The new direction is a matter of saying good-bye to all that, and embracing the service of God (from right motives, which please the Father).

Consecration is repentance renewed and sustained (sustainability is the buzzword today in our nation), and indeed the path to godliness and holiness is not just repentance, but repentance renewed and sustained throughout our Christian life. Just as repentance is consecration begun, consecration is repentance renewed and sustained – this is in fact the secret for sensitivity to God’s call and communication to us (see Romans 12:1-2) – this summons by Apostle Paul is to consecration and transformation which leads on to the pathway of discerning and finding God’s will in our Christian life.

If we are unrepentant and unconsecrated, we will not be in a position to hear God’s call and to discern His will at any point in our life and ministry.
That is why apathy and sluggishness with regard to ordinary obedience bring ‘deafness’ when God calls or speaks. Backsliding and apostasy often begin with being unfaithful in ‘small things’, and being indifferent to God in the daily outworking in our lives, even in apparently insignificant issues. If we continue to put ‘self’ at the centre of our lives, and if we yearn to take the place of ‘God’ in various situations we encounter, then it is surely an indication that repentance and consecration is sadly missing in our lives.