1 Samuel 21:4 (NKJV)
“And the priest answered David and said, ‘There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.’”

In our last devotion on this topic, we noted that what makes us holy is the purpose to which we have been separated to. Consecration takes what is common and makes it holy. The wooden cross has been immortalized because Jesus died on it.

Something else important in this process of consecration is the discipline of abstention. As we seek to grow in consecration, we must learn what it means to forgo some things for the sake of a higher calling. Sacrifice grows consecration.

When we deny ourselves certain things, it creates a new environment and adds value to our decision. Sacrifice does not consecrate. Sacrifice is a sign of our willingness to be consecrated. The pilgrim way must include self-denial.

As Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “All things are lawful…but all things are not expedient.” Why? Because he goes on to say that he will not be “brought under the power of any.” The pilgrim separates what is lawful and what is expedient.

Growing in consecration is refusing to be brought under the power of anything but Christ. Growing in consecration means growing in the discipline of “willing-sacrifice.” Growing in consecration is paying a price.

From the context of today’s verse, the priest said it was okay to eat holy bread only if the men had kept themselves away from women. Not having women is not a sign of consecration, but at the time of eating holy bread, it was a requirement.

There are many lawful things around our lives that we must be ready to sacrifice if we are to grow in holiness. Christ makes us perfectly holy by His death on the cross. Growing in holiness is the human process that shapes us to become more like Him.

We are not teaching moralism. We are not legalists. We are simply calling pilgrims away from the shallow waters of common living, into the holy space of divine formation, where we step away from ordinariness and grow more into Christlikeness.