To render all we have to the Lord's service is not only a reasonable thing, but an offering far too small—far less than what we would like to render to Him who has manifested such compassion and grace toward us. And we should feel thus, even if there were no rewards attached to such a consecration of ourselves. But inasmuch as God has attached great rewards and blessings, we should feel not only that a refusal to accept would be an indication of non-appreciation of Divine mercy but also an indication of weakness of mind, of judgment, which is unable to balance the trifling and transitory pleasures of self-will for a few short years, with an eternity of joy and blessing and glory, in harmony with the Lord.
This exhortation is not given to induce us to consecrate in the hope of getting thereby a great reward; but rather to do so out of a thorough trust in God, a thankful love for the good already received and an appreciative love for the good that God is and does. These qualities, wrought in us by the Truth seen and experienced in justification, enable us to render the Lord our little all, not only in its presentation but also unto its full consummation in death as a sacrifice. If we exercise the power, love, justice and wisdom that the Lord daily works in us, we will be enabled to carry out our consecration unto God's glory, others' profit and our eternal welfare.
2 Cor. 10:1; Psa. 50:5, 14; 45:10, 11; Prov. 23:26; Matt. 13:44-46; 16:24; Rom. 6:13, 16; 1 Cor. 6:13, 20; 2 Cor. 8:5; Heb. 10:7; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.
