"Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I’ve provided for the holy house: 100 tons of gold (gold of Ophir) and 250 tons of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?” 1 Chronicles 29:3-5 (HCSB)
King David LOVED the House of God (Psalm 26:8). He began life as a shepherd and the Bible does not paint a picture of a happy relationship between him and his family. In God’s presence he found the beauty of God contrasted with the unhappiness of his home. He found shelter and safety instead of exposure and shame. He found joy, music, singing, and a party in the House of God when at home there was no joy for him. There was no worship in David’s house, but at the House of God was a place of worship, sacrifice, offerings and praise. We live in a world where the House of God can be a refuge for people whose homes are not.
When David became king he still loved the House of God and desired to bless God by building Him a Temple. When King David announced he was giving to build the House of God it was not an insignificant amount: it was about $2.8b! In his appeal to the people he uses the words, ‘who will consecrate themselves this day to the Lord?’, relating to their giving. This term literally means ‘who will fill their hand?’. David declared his love for God’s house and the significant offering he was making to build it publicly, so that others would follow his generous example.
To consecrate is to set something apart for the exclusive sacred use of another. It means to make something holy, to bless, to ordain, to assign to a purpose. This means our assignment begins with our giving.
Consecrating ourselves to the Lord
Consecration is a commitment, a choice not a feeling. This Scripture is saying that we put ourselves on the altar, we separate ourselves to the Lord when we bring an offering to Him. When we give to build God’s house, we are also committing our lives to His plans.
When we are not consecrated to God, we resent any demand on us to serve Him, to go to church, read the Bible, pray and talk about Him to others. When we are consecrated to God fire falls on our hearts. We are spiritually alive. Then we find we love prayer, we love worship, we love the Bible. We want to serve Him in any way and we want to give to the Lord what we have. When we commit to building God’s house, His goodness flows into our lives, building our house (2 Samuel 7:27).
Our vision at C3 is for people to be transformed by the power of Christ - to ‘Know Jesus, Find Community, and Discover Purpose’. Our heart is to reach and care for people so that their lives are transformed with the good news of Jesus Christ, and to build church locations so that people can keep finding refuge in God’s presence the way David did all those years ago. For us to fulfil this vision, we are called to live and give above and beyond: to consecrate ourselves to God and to building His house.
SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT:
- As we’ve just made commitments to our Vision Builders Initiative, let’s all pray for each other over our financial worlds as a Connect group. Committing financially to Build God’s house will demand we continue to fight in faith over our finances. Continued prayer will keep us on the front foot in this area so we can have victory and authority.”
- What are your dreams for God’s House in the future? What do you dream for your own house?
- Are there any areas of life that you find hard to consecrate to God? Brainstorm some practical ways we can be pursuing God’s agenda during the week.
- How can we remind ourselves of our Vision Builders commitments (and encourage ourselves to fulfil them) during the coming year?
