Summer 2006
A Deeper Consecration
Joel M Killion

“I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you were young you girded yourself [put on your own belt or girdle] and you walked about wherever you pleased to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” John 21:18 Amplified

The Christian life consists of three stages of spiritual development: little children, young men, and, fathers” (I John 2:12-14).

When we were young and had no responsibilities, we dressed ourselves as we pleased and went wherever we desired to go. But as we “grew older,” we realized that we could no longer continue to do as we pleased.

When we grew into our youth, more was required of us, as higher standards were placed upon us, which we could not have carried while being a child. As we grew into spiritual adulthood, we began to be laden with heavier burdens and more responsibilities, which would have crushed us in our youth.

With each new step that we take toward spiritual maturity, a higher level of dedication and commitment is required of us, and the Lord Himself girds (arrests and restrains) us and leads us where we do not particularly desire to go. In this way, His will is gradually worked into our lives, bringing us closer to His will and purpose for us.

Therefore, as we move into further degrees of development, the gulf is widened between what is “permissible” and that which is “profitable,” according to the Lord’s specific will for our individual lives. No longer can we do what was once permitted.

The apostle Paul understood this principle and disclosed it in I Corinthians 6:12, Amplified:

“Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.”

This deals with a code that is inherently active within the deeper principles of divine commitment. As one draws nearer to the Lord, it becomes increasingly necessary to pursue “only” those things that are especially “profitable” (edifying) to the furthering of an even deeper “allegiance” to the Lord and to His purposes.

There are many Christians who say, “I am allowed to do anything; as long as it is not a sin.” But those who have committed their lives to the Lord do not share this perspective, for they understand that this is true, “but not everything is constructive to our spiritual progress.” The way that leads to spiritual life is a “straight” and “narrow” pathway (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24), and few are willing to pay this price.

This is the “process of restriction,” where the Lord Himself, tries our “reins,” and tightens them ever so firmly around “our will” through the power of a spiritual hunger that He has placed within us, which outstrips all natural human desires (Job 16:13; 19:6-29; Psalm 7:9; 26:2; Jeremiah 17:10; Lamentations 3:13).

Within the Church there are many well meaning, “believers” who are, as Paul put it, “running the race,” but there is “one” who “receives the prize.” This “one” - this remnant - is running with certainty, with one definite aim - to lay hold of the prize of “the high calling” of Christ (I Corinthians 9:24-27).

However, this “prize” will never be won without our “paying the full price” in the School of Christ, where each student is individually tutored with “all temperance” (self-control and discipline) in “all things.” Each student is held personally responsible for each choice they make. This training is seemingly foolish when compared to the lifestyle of the typical believer, as these are required to walk along a narrower pathway than others, separated to the Lord alone. As a result, they are scorned and ridiculed for being “too serious,” or, “so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.”

These do not fit in with the activities of the majority. Therefore, at every “fork in the road,” these “runners” have a choice to make. Will they submit themselves to a life of misunderstanding, or will they give in to the popular pull of mediocrity? Will they be distracted by even the seemingly insignificant “little foxes,” or will they keep the “set” of their spirit focused on the rigorous course of Christ?

The writer of Hebrews understood this principle very well:

“Let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1, Amplified

According to this passage, there are two things that hinder the “spiritual runner” - unnecessary weights, and sin.

“Sin” is easily discerned, but the “unnecessary weights” are altogether different. A “weight,” by itself can go virtually unseen since it is comprised of that which is neither right or wrong, nor good or bad, and yet it “entangles.”

Those who are “driven” by a passion to “receive the prize,” which is reserved for “the winner” alone, are those who are able to discern between those things that are “necessary” for victory, and those things that will hinder. And, they are not afraid of rejecting every thought or act of compromise that has “any” possibility of hindering them.

The life of the “runner” is simple and free of everything except that which is for the singular good of the “Prize.” What was once acceptable is no longer acceptable in the light of a much higher standard of commitment.

The “price tag” attached to “the high calling” is not for everyone since the substance of “this call” cannot be known or experienced apart from “this stripping process.” This is why few are chosen out from the many who are called.

When the Lord “strips” an individual through this “progressive consecration,” requiring them to only live according to that which enhances their spiritual development, He does it in order to groom them for an experiential union and partnership with Him in His end-time purposes (II Timothy 1:9, Amplified).

Presently, the Lord is “sealing” His bondservants through a focused, hidden work of preparation for the time when they will become stewards of His will and intention, as He calls upon them for divine service.

When the time is right, these “living sacrifices” will emerge as trustworthy representatives of the King and His Kingdom. As regal ambassadors, they will wield the powers of the ages to come, with boldness, wisdom and love.