Dedication Part 2: Dedication according to knowledge

In Acts 21:20-21: And when they heard it they begin glorifying God: and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children more to walk according to their customs.In this account, we can see how the Jews believed in the gospel. And yet they are like before, not changed in their thinking. They still go back to following the Law of Moses. This is so relevant to us today. Many christians are also zealous and on fire for God and want to serve God with all their hearts. But the sad fact is, they no not how. They have the wrong understanding of service and ultimately their efforts are put to waste. Hence, what is important is that we have to be changed, our minds have to be renewed. God will bring us into this renewed mind of Romans 12:2 if we are first willing to dedicate ourselves to him.

Romans 10:1,2: Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

Again, here we can see that the Jews had a zeal for God but a zeal without any knowledge.

Once God has brought us back and we have experienced his mercy, we come into the crisis of dedication. After which, God then takes us along a new way, which is the renewing of our minds and transformation.

This is how we should dedicate our lives to God:

2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

The scriptures are profitable for doctrine, to keep one from going offtrack. As we move along, God will reproof us through the scriptures. It is also a correction to bring us right back to him.

Proverbs 1:22-25: “How long, o naive ones, will your love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
“Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
“Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
And you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof;

This is exactly what God wants to say to us: turn to his reproof.

In Proverbs 5:1-12, it tells us of all the pitfalls of immorality. When we fail to accept reproof, this is what would happen. We will lose our honour, be looked upon with disdain and others will take all that we have. Our flesh would only bring corruption and death ultimately.

God desires a God-ordered life in all of us. He has set in our body a certain order that we need to follow. And if we follow his order, our lives would be blessed. Otherwise, Proverbs 5:1-12 would happen to us. But when we dedicate ourselves to the Lord, there is a discipline that comes with it.

Our problem is that we do not like the guardrails that God set for us. We want freedom. In the period of the Law, God was gracious to people. Today, on the period of grace, there is also law. There is always grace and law since the beginning of time. The Law is always given for the lawless. But God’s railway is to take the outward Law and write it into our hearts. This is being led by the spirit of God. As we are led by the spirit, we do not need any outward Law, but the guardrails that the spirit set for us to follow.
Many times we often want to please the Lord, but we still also want to please ourselves. This cannot be the case if we have dedicated our lives to God. After dedication, our lives should solely belong to him, we cannot take back what we have given him.

As we begin a life of dedication, our conflict comes inwardly as to whether we are knowing what it is to please the Lord and when we are led by the spirit.
This new way of dedication must not be simple a new way, but a living way. God is bringing us more and more into living it, but it requires much patience for others who are still learning as we grow together in Christ.

One of the problems with our dedication is that when God redeems us, he tkaes us out of Adam( the old man), nails us to the cross with Jesus (the new man) and when Jesus rose, we rose with him also.

We cannot dedicate our old lives to God or our old man to God. The only thing that we should do to our old man is to nail it to the cross and let it die. Only that which comes forth from the grave or that which is resurrected (the new man), can be dedicated to God and presented as a living sacrifice.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature or creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

It is very much a misconception to many. We don’t and can’t dedicate a talent or any ability to God, not even our musical talents to play musical instruments or sing during a worship service. Because, those are from our old man, which should be in the grave. In the tomb, God brings everything down to zero and we all start from scratch. When we are out of the grave, it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. God will lay aside our natural talents and abilities.
We should not be surprise if our natural abilities are waning, because the old things have passed away and new things have come. In Leviticus 14:14-18, when the priest applies blood, it refers to life in the blood which is a God-filled life, the blood that separates and brings us into resurrection. The oil placed over the blood signifys that the only thing God uses is that which is resurrected, which is from the new man and not the old man. The oil speaks of the holy spirit, which is for anointing.

Very often, we base our satisfaction on our talents and abilities, be it a musical talent or sports talent. But God wants our satisfaction to come only from him. Man can pick their natural ability and use it for their satisfaction, but on resurrection ground, God only anoints our love of God alone. He doesn’t anoint our natural talents which are part of the old man.

Hence, we must always look back at Calvary. Dedication works through the cross. It is according to this renewed knowledge that God gives us. This should be how we should dedicate our lives to God.