Thy Will be Done

I remember the first time I looked up the meaning of my name and discovered “Elsie means being consecrated to God.” Since then, other meanings come up but that one stuck because it filled me with wonder and delight.

The word “consecration” means to make or declare sacred, and sacred means holy, devoted to God, worthy of awe and respect. This is a lofty description and much more than anyone could ever deserve, so it makes me wonder why some people resist being consecrated to God?

Today’s reading says that some have a different definition of that word. One person said, “It means that all that is bright and pleasant in your life will be taken out of it and that every hard and sad thing you can conceive of will come into it. It means that you will have to do impossible things and that your ease and comfort will be gone forever.”

Obviously this shows a faulty understanding of God and His will, which is usually the root of any  misconception about Christian teaching. How is it that we can so misunderstand and misjudge our Lord, whose will can be nothing but goodness and love, since He himself is these and these only? Only because that old and sinful nature, plus the lies of the enemy are at play. This could be due to 1) not being in the Word of God, or not believing what we read, or 2) not recognizing or confessing our selfishness. How many times have I gone my own way only to find out how flawed it is!

When Jesus was asked how to pray, He began with:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9–10)

Praying for God’s will to be done is asking Him to make earth like heaven — and that is going to be a forever loss of ease and comfort? No one would want to go to heaven if they thought it was like that.
Furthermore, the Bible says: “This is the will of God, your sanctification…. (1 Thessalonians 4:3) Sanctification also means much the same as consecration. Either word refers to something God did when Christ came into my life:

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

It is also what Christ did so that I might be sanctified (or set apart) for Him: “And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:19)

How terribly sad that God’s people listen to that old nature or to Satan and become convinced of what is not true. How important to read and believe the truth about God and realize He is a joy-giver and not a joy-robber.

PRAY: Jesus, help me today to speak the truth in love and to be totally aware of and set free from any false ideas about You or Your will for my life and the lives of those I talk with.