Consecration

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

When Jesus’ parents finally found Him, He asked them why they’d had to search for Him. He thought that they would know that “I must be about My Father’s business.”

This is because He was consecrated, or set apart, unto God.

For the typical boy at His age, twelve was a milestone in which one became a son of the law, or bar mitzvah, and began to observe its requirements. Given that the whole law cannot be instantly learned (unless one happens to be the manifest Word of God), this being set apart is a process that occurs after a commitment to it. But with Jesus it was different.

Even as a child, He recognized His purpose and the difference it made; how different it made Him. When He was grown, He would say it like He said it in John 5.30. “I do not seek My own will but the will of Father who sent Me.”

In the same way, we who are called by His Name have been set apart by His choosing us. His purpose in choosing us makes us different. We know more because we have seen more; we have had the eyes of our faith opened. Now we cannot live as we once did. We cannot override His ownership or His redemption, and we are no longer our own. The price of our purchase requires total devotion indeed, and while there is grace in the process of learning how to be set apart, we are held accountable for what we know and have learned. Walking with Jesus is never stagnant, always challenging.

Being about the Father’s business is not going through the motions from a sense of duty or obligation. It is a daily crucifixion of our flesh because we have seen the truth, and our prime motivator is love.