Dedication is a test of the will – proved in our actions
Scripture: Exodus 19:10; Genesis 13:4-11
The final part of the sanctifying process is dedication. Devotion is a test of the heart.
Dedication is a test of the will – proved in our actions. Abram passed the heart test and
returned to the point of departure. Now he has a choice to pass the dedication test completing
the sanctifying process. God started with Abram by telling him to separate. There is nothing
more painful than family separation! Yet sometimes they’re ordained for the purposes of
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God. Abram comes to the place where he says, “Ok, Lot, if you want to go east, I’ll go west.
If you go west, I’ll go east. But we can no longer work together.” And Lot, of course, chose
what looked good in the natural. The problem was that what looked good in the natural also was
permeated with perversion. God brought him back to the issue of the famine only this time its
an action already proven in heart, it completes separation and demonstrates dedication.
Abram comes through sanctified, wholly given over to God’s purpose. And that is the issue
of sanctification. He has now completed what God told him to do. He has separated from his
family, from his country, and from his father’s house. Abraham separating from his father’s
house included a renunciation of the worship of idols of the Chaldeans. The task of being
wholly given over to God’s purpose can take some time, but in the end you stand to speak for
the LORD!
Prayer: Pray that dullness will not be your lot in this hour. When you feel dull in your
spiritual life, it is usually first and foremost the busyness of life that has replaced quality time
and communication with the Lord. Second, you may have dammed up the life inside by being
a spiritual hoarder. We are commissioned to freely give what God has given us (see Matt.
10:8). Those rivers need to be moving. Dullness is exactly what a swamp feels like—there is
no movement. Pray for your complete sanctification (1 Thess 5:23)