Reflections on Consecration
“But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You” (1 Chronicles 29:14)
[David’s prayer when he dedicated his treasures for the building of God’s Temple ]
What are the true dispositions of the Christian life?
1. To be and abide in continual dependence upon God. Become nothing, begin to understand that you are nothing but an earthen vessel into which God will shine down the treasure of His love.[1] Blessed is the man who knows what it is to be nothing, to be just an empty vessel meet for God’s use. Work, the Apostle says, for it is God who worketh in you to will and to do.[2]
Brethren, come and take the place of deep, deep dependence on God. And then take the place of child-like trust and expectancy. Count upon your God to do for you everything that you can desire of Him. Honour God as a God who gives liberally. Honour God and believe that He asks nothing from you but what he is going first to give. And then come praise and surrender and consecration. Praise Him for it! Let every sacrifice to Him be a thank-offering.
What are we going to consecrate?
First of all our lives. … Deal with God, and come to Him and say, “Lord of all, I belong to Thee, I am absolutely at Thy disposal.” Yield up yourselves. … Let us bow down before Him. Let us give Him all our powers—our head to think for His Kingdom, our heart to go out in love for men, and however feeble you may be, come and say: “Lord, here I am, to live and die for Thy Kingdom.
Some talk and pray about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Let them pray more and believe more. But remember the Holy Spirit came to fit men to be messengers of the Kingdom, and you cannot expect to be filled with the Spirit unless you want to live for Christ’s Kingdom.… It is the soul utterly given up to God that will receive in its emptying the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Dear friends we must consecrate not only ourselves—body and soul—but all we have… children… I plead with you; take your children and say to Jesus: “Anything Lord, that pleases Thee.” Educate your children for Jesus.…
Then there is money. When I hear appeals for money from every [missionary] Society; when I hear calculations as to what the Christians of England are spending on pleasure, and the small amount given for Missions, I say there is something terrible in it.… There are many who give but very little, who never so give that it costs them something, and they feel it. Oh, friends! Our giving must be in proportion to God’s giving. He gives you all.… Let us often say “It is all His.” You may not know how much you ought to give. Give up all, put everything in His hands, and He will teach you if you will wait.
We have heard this precious message from David’s mouth (quoted above).…Have we learned to know our God who is willing to give everything? God help us to.
2. We have nothing that we do not receive, and we may receive everything if we are willing to stand before God and take it.
3. Whatever you have received from God give it back. It brings a double blessing to your own soul.
4. Whatever God receives back from us comes to Him in Heaven and gives Him infinite joy and happiness, as He sees His object has been attained.
Let us come in the spirit of David, with the spirit of Jesus Christ in us. Let us pray our Consecration Prayer. And may the Blessed Spirit give each of us grace to think and to say the right thing, and to do what shall be pleasing in the Father’s sight.
Deeper Christian Life, by Andrew Murray (1895). From Chapter 8
[1] See 2 Corinthians 4:7
[2] See Philippians 2:12,13