THE CONSECRATION OF OUR BODIES
BEING A MATTER OF
NOT CONFORMING TO THIS AGE
In Romans 12, the second definite thing concerning consecration is to be not conformed to this age. There is a difference between the age and the world. The world is kosmos; it is different from the age. The age is a part of the world. There are different ages, such as the age of the Ching Dynasty, the age of the Chinese Republic, and the age of the "May 4th movement." These are different ages. The word age means the modern world. It means that part of the world that is before your eyes. With different people, the age is different to them. In north China today, a young bride-to-be would want a wall clock. But fifty years ago, no one ever dreamed of having such a thing. What is the age? It is something that touches your heart. The world is the whole thing, and the age is a part or a fragment of the whole thing. A man can only touch the age that is partial; he can never touch the whole world. For this reason, a man can only drop the age that is partial; he cannot drop the whole world. Hence, a person gives up the world through giving up the age. The real consecration is one in which a person presents his time and drops the age. If a person only presents his time, his consecration is only a half consecration. The presenting of the time plus the dropping of the age equals a complete consecration. The presenting of the time and the dropping of the age are like the left and right hands; neither one can be missing.
Your age may be a house or a 1948 model car. A person can say that he does not love the world, but he cannot say that he does not love the age. The world is too big; it is not movable. But a person can chip a piece off this world. A person cannot move the world, but he can move such things as the rings and the diamonds. Those brothers who are in business have in their mind a set of abacus all day long. Some would even give up their jobs as college professors or judges to engage themselves in business. The most fashionable world today is to go into business.
ONLY A DEFINITE CONSECRATION
ENABLING US TO SERVE GOD
If we give all our time to the Lord, we will have no more time to love the world. If the sisters will give to the Lord all the time that they devote to beautifying themselves before the mirror, they will find time to serve the Lord. What we need today is to put into practice these two matters. On the one hand, the age has to decrease in us. On the other hand, the time we give to the Lord has to increase. On the one hand, we have to learn to give more time to God. On the other hand, we have to learn to drop more of this age. If you do this, you will find yourself a person serving God.
(Messages Given During the Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry (2 volume set), Chapter 51, by Watchman Nee/Witness Lee)
