One of my recent prayers has been, “ Lord I want to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.” I heard that phrase last year, and it has always stuck with me. This year, it has been brought to the forefront of my mind. I’m challenged by the meaning of it. In many aspects of my life, I’ve found myself to be more of a thermometer. I’ve been affected by the environment around me rather than the environment being affected by me because of who resides in me, the Holy Spirit.

So the question is, what determines whether I’m a thermostat or a thermometer? I sought the Lord and He answered me. He began to talk to me about carnality. Gratifying the flesh is a sure way to be a thermometer. He began to expose some of the carnal aspects of my life. For example, my obsession with romance books and movies, mindless scrolling on social media, overindulgence of food and major resistance to fasting. Consecration is how I’ll become a thermostat.

Personally, I have felt the Lord calling me to a deeper level of consecration. However, I also believe the Lord is calling His Church as a whole to a place of deeper consecration. What used to be okay is no longer okay anymore. What used to be justifiable is no longer justifiable. He’s calling us deeper.

I hear the Lord saying, “Come away with me.” Doesn’t coming away with Him mean leaving everything else behind?
2 Corinthians 6:17 says, “Come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch nothing that is unclean, and I will embrace you.

Leviticus 20:7-8 says, “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord, who sanctifies you.”

These scriptures speak of responsibilities that are ours and ours alone. There’s a cost. God already did His part. The crucifixion was how much Jesus was willing to pay. Consecration is how much we must be willing to pay. What are you willing to pay? Just as I have had to examine myself, so will you also.