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One Woman's Pilgrimage
by Linda Bush Cannon
Leviticus 20:7-8: Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
What does it mean to consecrate myself? It’s so much more than to follow some legalistic rules put on me by some church or organization. Oh, it’s easy enough to put on the front, the mask of being consecrated/holy. I can wear the face and clothes of the tight-spirited holy-roller church lady and carry a Bible and spout verses and quotes and speak "Christianese." But when I come home at night and look in the mirror, the soul mirror that reflects who I truly am in front of nobody but me and God, what do He and I really see?
At times it is the woman who doesn’t see herself as being worthy to be honored, to be treated as sacred or sanctified. It is the woman who can’t see herself the way her Lord sees her – special and wonderful and loved beyond measure.
Sometimes it is the woman who follows her rebellious heart to paths that lead away from God’s will. Pride and stubbornness replace humility and obedience and I choose the instant gratification of sin instead of patiently waiting on the Lord. Like a restless and strong-willed child I wriggle away from the loving warmth of my Abba’s hand and go running off to play in dangerous passageways that leave me broken and bruised and hurt.
But on occasion… in blessed moments that I pray will happen with increasing consistency as I grow in His grace… I look in the soul mirror and see glimpses of the woman God has designed -- a woman who sets herself apart for her Bridegroom, Christ Jesus. A woman who seeks His will above all, and chooses to dedicate and keep holy her mind, her body, and her heart. Reflected back to me is a woman who lives intentionally within His paths of righteousness each day, moment-by-moment. It is in these times of “consecrated choices” I discover my true identify and worth… and with it the sweetest moments of peace and satisfaction and joy.
So today, I will mindfully choose to dedicate all I am, all I have and all I love to Him. I will humble myself and gladly submit to His will for me that I might become the holy and consecrated woman that He has designed me to be. Not perfect… just me, fully me. And so grateful that I am always, no matter what, passionately loved and treasured by my Father.
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You can find her on her website at www.cannoncrosscoaching.com
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