A word which we often associate with Lent is the word “consecrate.” It’s a word that can mean various things, llike sanctify, anoint, bless, or purify. But perhaps the most accurate translation of how it’s used in the Bible would be the phrase “set apart.” When something is consecrated, it is dedicated entirely to God, set apart from common use so that it belongs completely to the Lord.
When God commanded Moses to consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests in Exodus 29, they were washed, clothed, anointed, and set apart for sacred service. The tabernacle furnishings were consecrated. The altar was consecrated. Even days were consecrated - the Sabbath was made holy. Consecration meant that ordinary time, ordinary objects, ordinary people were claimed by the presence and purpose of God.
During this season of Lent we set apart these 40 days, claiming them as a sacred time for seeking God and preparing our hearts for Holy Week. But it is not just numbers on a calendar we claim for prayer and fasting. It is not just a season we consecrate. During this time we also seek ourselves to be set apart as God’s people, dedicated to his purposes and claimed by his holy and perfect love.
Very few hymns in history have captured the idea of our being consecrated better than Frances Ridley Havergal’s “Take My Life and Let It Be” (even one of the popular tunes to which it’s set is called “Consecration”). In her deeply poetic words we are reminded what it means to be claimed by God’s mercy and set apart for his Kingdom work. In that way, the hymn becomes an echo of Paul’s famous invitation from Romans 12:
“So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him.”—Romans 12:1 (NCV)
As we enter the first weekend of Lent, with our first Sunday worship of Lent, may we be open to the new ways God is calling us to be “living sacrifices” in response to his great mercy. May this beginning of Lent call us deeper into into his invitation to be “set apart” for praise, honor, and service.
Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Questions for Reflection
1) How do you sense God calling to to both “set apart” and “be set apart” during this Lenten season? Do you embrace that call openly and willingly? What resistance or barriers do you sense to that work?
2) You could spend days meditating on just these five words from today’s hymn: “Ever only all for Thee.” Break them down one by one and pray with each word. How do you sense the Spirit stirring you with each step of that prayer?
3) Read and reflect on this verse. Let it lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
—1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)