GENESIS 35:1: “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.” NLT

OBSERVATION: What is consecration? This is a word that we do not use very much in our modern English language. Yet, it is a Biblical word and a very important principle in our walk with the Lord.

Webster’s 1828 English Dictionary defines consecration as:

“The act or ceremony of separating from a common to a sacred use, or of devoting and dedicating a person or thing to the service and worship of God, by certain rites or solemnities. Consecration does not make a person or thing really holy, but declares it to be sacred, that is, devoted to God or to divine service.”

God was calling Jacob to a deeper level of consecration. When Jacob had fled from Esau, the Lord met him at Bethel and repeated the covenant that He had made with Abraham and Isaac. Jacob then fled to Haran, where he served his uncle Laban for 20 years, was married to Leah and Rachel, and had many sons and daughters.

After leaving Haran, Jacob feared meeting his brother Esau, whom he had tricked, stealing his birthright. God intervened and protected Jacob by giving him favor with Esau. Each of them had too many possessions and livestock to live in the same area. God was moving Jacob to the next level of consecration in his life as He called Jacob to return to Bethel, where the Lord had first met with Him.

Jacob understood this was more than a call to change locations. God was calling him to the very place where He had revealed His covenant with Jacob. Jacob had dreamed of the ladder reaching up into heaven and the Lord proclaiming His promise to Jacob,

Genesis 28:13-15: “At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day, I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” NLT

So, being called back to Bethel was no ordinary thing. Jacob knew this, and he knew that it required him to take inventory of his life and his family. So Jacob called his family together and gave them these instructions.

Genesis 35:2-4: “So Jacob told everyone in his household, ‘Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.” NLT

I find this amazing and convicting at the same time. How could Jacob and his family, after meeting with the one true God at Bethel, slip back to acquiring idols and practices that they knew must be let go of before they could approach God once again? Then it hit me. This is exactly what happens in our lives. We may not mean to acquire things that pull us away from God and His calling, yet it happens. We trudge through life, and all of a sudden, we find we are encumbered with the weights and sins of life that keep us from running the race that is set before us.

Consecration is needed!

Like David, we need to pray,

Psalms 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.“ NLT

This is a prayer of consecration. This is a call to clean house. This is the call to ask the Lord to reveal to us the weights and sins in our lives that we are unaware of. When God calls us to moments of consecration, it is not because He is displeased with us. Rather, it is because He wants to do so much more in us. He is calling us to a deeper dimension of fellowship with Him. He is calling us into His presence, and we need to lay aside everything that would encumber us from entering.

This is what Jacob and his family did. This is what I need to do. When Jacob and his family obeyed the Lord’s call to consecration and when they traveled to enter into His presence, we see the blessing of consecration in their lives.

Genesis 35:5: “As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.” NLT

God’s protection went with Jacob and His family as they traveled to Bethel. God’s call was confirmed in Jacob’s life. And God reaffirmed both His covenant and promises to Jacob, now called Israel!

Genesis 35:9-10: “Now that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel. God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on, your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.” NLT

From Jacob, the deceiver, to Israel, a Prince with God! When God calls us into a deeper level of consecration, it is always so that He can draw us into His deeper purposes and blessings for our lives.

There is power in consecration!

Lord, this morning, I pray as David prayed. Search me, know me, and reveal anything in my life that You are calling me to lay aside so that I can walk into Your purpose, will, and blessings for my life! Father, I come to You, through the blood of Jesus Christ, to find Your grace and mercy needed to consecrate myself anew!

Draw me closer to You, I pray.

In Jesus’ Name!