CONSECRATION AND SERVICE.
Jos
24:14-28.
"How
scant and measur'd are our gifts, Each on the other duty shifts; Upon ourselves
we lavish spend, And paltry nothings His cause send. What cost it Him to save
thy soul, Ere thou on Him thy sins didst roll?"
It has been
said that "Entire consecration embraces three things-being, doing, and
suffering. We must be willing to be, to do, and to suffer all that God
requires. It covers body, soul, and spirit. These are to be used when, where,
and as God requires, and only as He requires. Must be made deliberately for all
time coming, without any reserve, and in reliance upon divine strength. This is
a faithful and true witness. Here is-
I. A
Call to Decision.
"Choose
ye this day whom ye will serve" (Jos 24:15). Ye cannot serve two masters.
To halt between the opinions of self and God is to tarry upon the plain of
destruction, like Lot's wife (Luke 16:13). "Know ye not, that to whom ye
yield yourselves, His servants ye are?" (Romans 6:16). Yielding to sin
makes us the servants of sin. Yielding to God makes us the servants of God.
II.
A Noble Determination.
"As
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Jos 24:15). The Lord in some
way will publicly acknowledge those who, in the fear of God, command their
children and their households (Genesis 18:19). But let this be an individual
decision, "As for me." "What wilt Thou have me to do?"
Every man shall give an account of himself to God. To serve the Lord implies
making Him your Master. Not I, but Christ. One is your Master. Who is He? Self
or Christ?
III.
A Stirring Reflection.
The people
answered and said, "The Lord our God, He it is that brought us out of
Egypt, . . . and did those great signs, . . . and preserved us all the way, . .
and drove out the Amorites, . . . therefore will we serve the Lord" (Jos
24:16-18). Their calling to mind the past goodness of God led them to a
definite surrender of themselves to Him. Shall the memory of Christ's
sufferings and victory for us not constrain us to yield ourselves in loyal
service to Him? "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price,
therefore glorify God in your bodies and your spirits which are His."
IV.
A Solemn Declaration.
Joshua
said, "Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He is an holy God; He is a jealous
God" (Jos 24:19). It is an easy thing to say that we will serve the Lord,
but it is a very different thing to put it into daily practice (see Matt
26:33-35). The service of God is an holy service, and only holy ones can render
it (Lev 19:2). "Who shall be able to stand before this holy Lord
God?" (1Sa 6:20). Those cleansed by the blood and filled with the Spirit.
Ye cannot serve God if Mammon or self has any authority over you, for He is a
jealous God, jealous because He is Love (1Jn 4:8).
V. A
Decided Affirmation.
"Nay,
but we will serve the Lord. We are witnesses" (Jos 24:21-22). They were
witnesses against themselves that they had chosen the Lord to serve Him. Peter
and the rest of the disciples affirmed that they would rather die than deny
their Lord, but they all forsook Him, and fled when danger appeared.
Self-confidence is ever the arm of flesh that fails. A strong will may be a
blessing or a snare. All depends on whether the strength is merely human or
divine. Be strong and very courageous (Jos 1:7).
VI.
An Indispensable Condition.
"Now
therefore put away the strange gods, and incline your heart," etc. (Jos
24:23). If the Lord is to be served every other usurping god must be put away,
and the whole heart inclined leaning only upon the Lord. Everything that takes
the place the Lord alone should have in our hearts is a strange god to Him;
that with which He can have no fellowship. Service must always be associated
with holiness. Work for God is to be the fruit of personal consecration to God.
David would not offer to God what cost him nothing (2Sa 24:24). The ministry of
the Son of Man was to give His life (Matt 20:28). So should we first give our
own selves to the Lord. "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first
gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God" (2Co
8:5).
(Fra: Handfuls
on Purpose.)
