Scripture is Consecrating Truth

SCRIPTURE:
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth.
 John 17:17

DEVOTIONAL:
As followers of Christ, we have a call on our life to live and love more like Jesus. But, as
humans, we have a tendency to over-complicate things, mess things up, and become distracted
with the ways of the world. We think there is a special recipe for success when it comes to our
faith.
We often know the life we want for ourselves, one that glorifies God, but we think it’s
unobtainable or that there’s a list of requirements we must complete before being welcomed into
Christ’s family. That is far from the truth, for our salvation is by grace through faith. We can find
encouragement that the war of sin and death has already been won through the death and
resurrection of Jesus.
As we read this week’s scripture, we are transported into John 17, where Jesus is praying to God
the Father before he goes to the cross, he’s praying for both believers and non-believers. In John
17:17, Jesus prays that we can be made holy – consecrated – with the truth. He continues by
explaining that God’s word is the consecrating truth that we need. God’s Holy Scripture poured
out in the form of the Bible is ours to read and learn from.
Living a consecrated life and offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God means spending time
in scripture. We often pray for God to reveal His will to us but we aren’t always willing to sit
down and listen to what He’s trying to tell us. We’d be amazed what God could do with our lives
if we listened for His voice as much as we asked to hear it.
We can all think of an example when we’ve spent time in God’s word and little things in that
day or week aligned with what we just learned. Perhaps, when we read a portion of scripture and
it’s quoted at CYA the following week. Sometimes we’ll read scripture and a few days later we
use the same verses to encourage a friend. When we set our eyes on thoughts on things above,
everything changes. Let’s dig deep this week.

APPLICATION:
If you’re not already reading through a book of the Bible, pick one to start going through each
day. Ask a CYA leader if you’re not sure where to start. Try to find time each day to sit down
and read a chapter, but don’t just read. Take note of the following questions:
- who is in the passage?
- what is happening?
- how does this apply to your life?
Share with your CYA group ways you see the scripture you’re reading come to life in the days
and weeks to follow.