The Beginning of the Journey

Not once in all my years of ministry has anyone ever suggested taking the Communion plate and using it for the fried chicken at a Church Night Supper.  Neither has anyone ever gone to the baptismal font with a bar of soap to wash their hands.  The reason is simple.  These things are holy.  Like everything else in the sanctuary (organ, piano, pulpit, candle stands, hymn books, etc.), they have been set apart through a service of consecration.  Once consecrated they are to only be used for holy purposes.

 

It is, of course, something started a long time ago.  When Moses was putting together The Tabernacle of Meeting, he was instructed by God, "Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy." (Exodus 40:9)  Even the vestments of Aaron, the priest, were set apart for holy purposes.  What Aaron wore while doing the work of the priest, he did not wear to a casual social gathering.  It would have been unthinkable.

 

Romans 12:1-2 which says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship," simply must be taken into consideration by anyone who is seeking after what the Word is saying about sanctification.  Even as things can be set apart to be used only for holy purposes, so can we choose to live before God as one set apart to be used for holy purposes.  Such a desire and longing is the beginning of our journey into the sanctified life.