Consecrated

“Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’” (Joshua 3:5 NIV UK)

They’re just doors. Grey paint, brass handles. Nothing extraordinary. I’ve walked through them countless times without thinking. But look closer at this photo and you’ll notice something: two small cross-shaped marks pressed into the wood with oil. Easy to miss. Impossible for me to forget. I took this photo specifically to never forget these doors and the moment of their anointing. Those marks were left by my friends and leaders who stood at this threshold and prayed bold prayers. They consecrated these doors in the name and power of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of David. The holy oil upon their thumbs moved downward in the name of the Father, then across in the name of the Son and Holy Spirit, a consecration unto the Lord and against anything seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. The marks stayed on the doors for days after what became another profound moment in the beyond-what-we-could-ask-or-imagine adventure of what God has been pouring out in our community in London. My life has been marked not altogether differently than those doors. There’s nothing truly special about the doors, the oil, or even the gatherings until the Lord does something extraordinary. As I consecrate my life to Jesus day by day, I find that God takes all of me, my ordinariness, my weaknesses, even my failures, and marks it by his Spirit and for his glory. That photo is now my phone background. Each day I see those crosses and those doors and ask: Have I marked my heart, my mind, and this day as consecrated before the Lord?

Leslie Hall

For Reflection

• Take a few moments to reflect through the spaces where you spend your days. Is there anything that God brings to mind about the ordinariness or sacredness of those places or the objects within?

• Is there anything about yourself that feels unremarkable or ordinary that you feel led to consecrate to the Lord today?