Consecrated For Service Series

Linda, who teaches first grade in Dallas Texas, has an interesting job, especially when it comes to helping children adjust to their first whole day of school. Little Ryan was used to going home at noon in kindergarten; so when it was time to go to lunch with the rest of the class, he got his things ready to leave for home.

Linda asked him what he was doing.

“I'm going home,” he replied.

Linda tried to explain that now he is in the first grade, he would have a longer school day. “You'll go eat lunch now,” she said, “and then you'll come back to the room and do some more work before you go home.”

Ryan looked up at her in disbelief, hoping she was kidding. Then, convinced of her seriousness, Ryan then put his hands on his hips and demanded, “Who on earth signed me up for this program?” (Wanda Vassallo, Dallas, Texas, www.Preaching Today.com)

Whether you like it or not, the truth is GOD signed you up to serve Him. Ephesians 2 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Or as the King James Version puts it, “God before ordained that we should walk in them.”

God has ordained every believer to serve Him, not just the preachers, not just the missionaries, but every believer. In fact, God says to every believer, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). As a believer, you are a priest, a ROYAL priest, tasked with the job of introducing people to God!

Are you ready to answer God’s call? Are you ready to fulfill the ministry He ordained you to do? Well, if you feel inadequate for such a call, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 29, Exodus 29, where God shows Moses how to get the first priests ready to serve their God.

Exodus 29:1-9 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons (ESV).

God instructs Moses to wash, clothe, and anoint the priests in order to get them ready to serve, in order to consecrate and ordain them for ministry, in order to set them apart and set them in place for His use. Is that what you want, then let Jesus do that for you.

LET JESUS WASH, CLOTHE, AND ANOINT YOU for ministry.

Let Christ bathe, dress, and pour His Spirit on you. Let our Lord clean, cover, and cause God’s Holy Spirit to flow through you.

If you want to be ready for the priestly ministry to which God has called you, first, let Jesus wash you. Let Christ clean up those dirty attitudes and actions that prevent you from serving Him effectively.

1 John 1:9 promises us believers, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Literally, He is faithful to loose us from our sins and to clean up all those vices that weaken our fellowship with Him and others.

Willie Carson, a famous British jockey, was racing one day at Pontefract, easily ahead of everyone else, but 330 yards from the finish line, he thought he heard something at his back. He glanced round and saw the shadow of a horse coming up behind. Determined to win the race, he spurred his horse on and crossed the finish line first. He looked round again and saw that the nearest horse was fifteen lengths behind—he had been racing his own shadow for the last part of the race (Ian St. John, Saint and Greavsie's Funny Old Games, Little Brown, 2008, p. 24; www.PreachingToday.com).