Within the Circle

Romans 12:1-2 (Heb-Greek)I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message) So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

D.L. Moody tells a story about having heard Pastor Henry Varley once say that, "The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him."

As Moody pondered the pastor's words, He realized something. Pastor Varley did not say that God would use an intelligent person. He didn't say an educated person, nor did he say a person who was ultimately gifted. What the wise pastor said was that the person with whom God will work with and for and through will be the person "who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him".

Let’s look at what ‘consecrated’ means.
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Consecrated persons, places, things are also "circumscribed", i.e. a "circle is drawn" around them: a boundary is set which must not be crossed, unauthorized approach is forbidden or barred or is deflected or redirected, and careless or casual treatment or use of the person, place, thing, doctrine or subject is a punishable offense. Circumscription includes consecration but has a much broader meaning. Whatever is circumscribed is "off limits", "out of bounds. To disregard the circumscribed quality of what has been "set apart" is to "cross the line" and to "step over the boundary" of the "circle drawn" around it. Not all that is circumscribed is sacred, but all that is consecrated is circumscribed. A synonym for consecration is to sanctify. An antonym is desecrate.

A person consecrated to Christ is one who chooses to be set apart from the pack. They don’t ‘go along to get along’ and they have established boundaries in their lives by which they live and serve, deflecting anything outside that sacred circle that isn't pleasing to God. A visual of the Armor of God just flashed before my eyes with the shield of faith raised deflecting temptations and ungodly thoughts, “Not in my circle!”   

God isn’t looking for people with amazing minds or hands or voices or computer skills. He’s not looking for those who are wearing the nicest suits or dresses at church. And He’s not looking for the people with the highest grade point averages at the local Christian College. What God is really looking for, are people who are simply sold out for Him!
 
One of the great secrets to a successful walk with the Lord is understanding total commitment to Jesus. But being totally committed requires us to daily take up our cross — leave the past behind us — and despite all the obstacles the enemy tries to throw in our path, press forward for the Lord and His work! Let's consecrate ourselves to the Lord again today.