consecration - glory.

It was like any other day as I got ready and drove to work. I turned on my worship playlist, as I often do, and a few shuffles in, the song “Show Me Your Glory” by Brandon Lake flooded my car stereo. As I repeated the words in my heart, I was struck by a curiosity about God’s glory and what it truly meant to experience the type of glory being sung about. As I pondered this thought, it hit me—consecration.

Consecration? I thought. Where did that word even come from? Holy Spirit, is that YOU…? I was in a moving 3,000-pound vehicle and, in no way, shape, or form, in a position to safely grab my phone to look this up. It wasn’t until later that evening, after work, that I began to do some research on this word, watching YouTube videos and even starting a 5-day Bible plan on the topic.

For my “lazy” folks, I’ll make it short for you—consecration means to make something sacred for a purpose. In Hebrew, the word for "consecrate" is qāḏaš (KADOSH). It can also mean "sanctify," "prepare," "dedicate," "holy," or "separate." And if you’re like me, who LOVES the Word, the first verses that came to my mind when I read that definition were Romans 12:1, where we’re called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord, and 2 Corinthians 6:17, which says, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."

It seemed like I was on the right track, but it felt as if the Holy Spirit was saying, "Not quite yet." And though I’ve read Exodus before, I took a more intentional approach into studying the life of Moses. My study first led me to Exodus 33, when Moses boldly declared, “Now show me your glory” (v. 18). I reread that about three times because, wow! The friendship that Moses had with the God of Israel to ask such a request, especially considering that in v. 20, God said, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

On the topic of this, I began flipping through the chapters of Exodus and landed on a few chapters back in Exodus 19. In Exodus 19:21, it says that "the Lord said to him (Moses), 'Go down and warn the people, so they do not force their way through to see the Lord, and many of them perish.'" And as I read on, there it was in verse 22: “Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.” *Insert me speaking in tongues* Did y’all read that?! And it wasn’t just casual words—it was a promise spoken with authority.

The type of glory described in Exodus, on Mount Sinai, refers to the Hebrew word kavod, which describes God’s presence and the awe-inspiring, powerful manifestation of God. In other words, to experience this powerful manifestation of kavod as we cry out, “Show me your glory!!,” we must ensure that we present ourselves in a manner that is sacred, holy—KADOSH. In Isaiah 6:1-3, Isaiah sees a vision of God and hears the angels saying, “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, YHWH Tsabaoth, melo kal ha'aretz kevodoh,” which translates to: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” And 1 Peter 1:16 states, "Be holy, for I am holy."

I can’t begin to describe the wisdom the Holy Spirit began to bestow on me as I continued to ponder this topic. As I asked the Holy Spirit how I can make this applicable in my life today, I think what I ultimately want to say—and the inspiration behind writing this—is to understand the weight of words when we request something from God. You (and I speak for myself here, too) can’t ask to experience God’s glory while living in a life of sin. We just can’t. Especially in this modern society, we can’t continue to glorify sin and glorify Jesus at the same time.

When the Holy Spirit was deposited in you, daughter or son of the living God, so was the wisdom of Christ. 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all," and that darkness is sin. God told Moses in Exodus 19 that even the priests must consecrate themselves or face the threat of the Lord breaking out against them. 1 Peter 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” We are that priesthood, and the light of Christ dwells richly within us through His precious Holy Spirit. So… how can we experience God’s glory, you ask? Consecration.

Thank you Lord, for seeing me worthy enough to share Your glory.

Amen.

Show Me Your Glory - Brandon Lake, feat. Leeland | House of Miracles (Live)