Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5 (NASB)
The second guideline for making it victoriously through unknown territory is this: consecrate yourselves. In other words, God was telling His people that if they were going to cross what seemed to be an impassable river and follow His will, they must be set apart for Him. The word “consecrate” is the Hebrew word kawdash – it means ‘to be holy, sanctified, set apart’. The related word kadosh is the word uttered by the angels who minister around the throne of God crying out day and night: kadosh, kadosh, kadosh; holy, holy, holy.
Consecration is a call to address anything that would contaminate your relationship with God. It is a call to holiness and obedience in every particular area of our lives. Nothing less will do. Do we need a renewed sense that we are a people holy unto the Lord? Absolutely. Paul tells us:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-1 (NIV)
We are to be set apart from sin and set apart for service unto God. We are to be clean vessels for Him to use.
He will be a vessel for honour, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21 (NASB)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIVUK)
“ sanctify you through and through” – wholly, solely for His glory. It was in Dublin in 1873 that D L Moody heard British evangelist Henry Varley utter those life-changing words:
The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.
Prepare yourself for tomorrow by consecrating yourself today.