ESOCS Devotional 13 November 2022
TEXT: EXODUS 32:15-29
MEMORY VERSE: “Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day…” Exodus 32:29
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Our Lord Jesus has a rightful claim on us. He purchased us with His Blood (Acts 20:28). We were lost and without any hope in the world, as the scriptures say: “that at that time [we] were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Many centuries before, David had prayed: “For we are aliens and pilgrims before you, as were all our fathers; our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope” (1 Chron. 29:15). We were vagabonds roaming in the boundless field of the earth (Gen. 4:12, 14). But now we are “the redeemed of the Lord” (Ps. 107:2; Isa. 62:12) because we are the “church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).
Hence, responsibility is laid on us to maintain our new status in the Lord. We belong to Him solely. The way to do that is to consecrate ourselves to Him today, and remain permanently so. There is urgency in this matter. It requires immediate devotedness to God. Before we can do this faithfully, we must acknowledge and appreciate God’s graciousness towards us in the work He did for us on the cross. This would enable us to recognize God’s claims on us; deeply and anxiously respect such claims, and set ourselves apart for Him by completely surrendering our hearts, our minds, our souls, and the totality of our whole being and possessions to Him.
The road to holiness is a very narrow one. But we must necessarily walk on it because it is the only way we can follow Jesus and win the heart of our heavenly Father. It demands that we work on ourselves and redirect our hearts and minds towards doing what God demands from us in all aspects of our lives. We have to apply a disciplined approach to issues in our relationship with God. He expects us to consecrate ourselves to Him; that is, we should dedicate ourselves to Him. In other words, He wants us to separate ourselves from the world and strive to live a life of holiness and righteousness until we become perfect like Him. We should fill ourselves with Christian virtues such as works of kindness, love, purity, meekness, humility, chastity, integrity, honesty, the word of God, the Holy Spirit, and many others that edify us and glorify God in us.
Let us continually remember that as saints of God we have moved from the level of the natural man to become the spiritual man, and act likewise. The fruitless things of this life should neither impress us nor interest us. Christ is our only Master. He consecrated Himself onto the Father. As His little children, let us do likewise.
CHALLENGES
- Is there anything that hinders you from consecrating yourself to your God?
PRAYERS
- Pray the Holy Spirit to preserve and sanctify you.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Thank you for reading the ESOCS Devotional today. Please share and follow us on all our platforms to contribute to the spread of the Gospel.
ESOCS Devotional 13 November 2022
