St. Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ,” for he could also say
without hesitation that the one thought of his life was his Saviour’s
glory. He lived for one object, and that one object is described as his
life. Now we hear a great deal of consecration in these days, and we
cannot hear too much, if only it is kept in its right place, for there is
far too little consecration to God amongst us. Consecration is the
surrender of the whole life to the Lord. It is the setting the Lord
always before us in all that He calls us to do. We have been loved by
Him, redeemed by Him, called by Him, and saved by Him; so now we are His.
We belong to Him altogether. Our powers are no longer our own, but our
Lord’s; our lives should be no longer occupied for ourselves, but for our
Lord; so that in us may be carried out the purpose of redeeming love as
described by St. Paul. “He died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and
rose again.” {37}
Shall we live for ourselves or for His glory? For the gratification of
self, or for the happy, holy, sacred service of Him to whom we owe all
that we have, and all that we hope for, our Blessed Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ?