A Life of Consecration...

What an amazing journey this past year has been! I'm not going to lie, shamefully if you would have asked me a year ago what I knew or thought about consecration I probably would have been lucky to even giving you a definition of it. However, I realized recently that over the past year of my life it is a place that God has been bringing me into more and more. I know some people go through a season of consecration where God calls them out of things, but it was recently that I realized that God was calling into a life of consecration.
Now before you read any further I want to make it clear that I don't mean that I feel God is telling me I am going to be "better" than anyone around me. I also don't mean that He loves me "more" because of the choices I am making, because I know God loves the murderer sitting in a prison cell just as much as He loves me. But what I do mean is that I feel like He is calling me out to live a different kind of life...one that is set apart and with a purpose. So much so, that I have found that the things He has been having me filter out of my life so it is set apart, are things that I have no desire to ever let back in. Not because of a season He was walking me through, but more because of a life He is calling me to.
It was recently that I discovered that the things of this world that I used to have an interest in just don't interest me at all anymore. And I don't even mean things that were flat out sin. I mean things that were causing distractions in my life or even things that just didn't point me back to Him. It started when I cut secular music out of my life, then cable tv, then places I would go and things I would do for entertainment. Not all of these things are bad, but what I was hearing from His is...they are bad for where He wanted to take me. And I have found that when I am at a place where I am forced to be around things that I know He has filtered out of my life, something in my spirit rises up and recognizes how much better my relationship is with Him since He pulled me out of those things.
Now I am by no means saying everyone should throw out their radio, unplug their cable or never walk into a nice restaurant because they happen to serve alcohol there. But I am saying that if you are feeling convicted (like I was) about these things then don't try to push that down in your spirit. Recognize what God is trying to say to you and ask Him "Are you trying to set me apart?"...."Do you want me to live a life of consecration because of a purpose you have for my life?"... "Do you need me and my life to be at a different place in order to do what you are calling me to do?" And if the answer to those questions are YES, then I highly suggest you let Him show you what needs filtered out and get rid of it. What's amazing about how He does this, is that not only will you not miss those things, but when you get around the things of this world that you KNOW He has filtered out of your life they will bother you like an itch you just can't reach. And when that happens it just confirms to me that I am closer to Him than I have ever been...and the things that bother Him, are now bothering me.
Romans 12:1-2 says "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." It is this verse that God has brought me to and said "stand out"..."don't be conformed to the things of this world any more". As Christians we should all stand out in some way. So I would suggest that you pray and ask God to what level of consecration would He want your life to be. Maybe for you it is just a season...or maybe He needs you to make some permanent changes in your life so He can take you to the next place.

A song that He brings me to when I think about cleansing my life is Lead Me To The Cross by Hillsong. Everything I once thought was "important" changed thanks to Him!