Some of my fondest childhood memories are of messing around with my father and brother in our little sailboat. ‘Tis true, our 13-foot dinghy wasn’t large, but in my mind as we sailed out into the local estuary, I was aboard an ocean liner. These days I no longer sail, but I still enjoy visiting historic ships. One of the most famous is the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Prior to World War II, the Queen Mary was a luxury trans-Atlantic liner, but during the war it was transformed into a troop transport. On one side of the lengthy dining room you can see how the 3,000 wealthy patrons wined, dined and danced in luxury before the war. Silver cutlery jostles with china crockery on beautiful tables. Soft carpets and plush chairs are bathed in subdued light. But across a partition you can see how the 15,000 troops lived on the converted ship. The difference is stark. Dull metal cutlery sits on trestle tables beside dented metal trays. Eight-tier bunks replace luxuriant beds.

What a contrast! And why did this happen? Because the U.S. was on a wartime footing. Peacetime ease and consumption were set aside because the lives of tens of millions depended on it. Did those who sacrificed enjoy the sacrifices? Probably not. I am sure there was some grumbling among the thousands of troops in those cramped bunks. But what about those who were liberated from concentration camps, or who no longer lived in fear of V-2 rockets falling from the skies onto their homes? How did they feel about the sacrifices?

Today, we are caught up in a conflict of cosmic proportions, and the eternal survival of hundreds of millions depends on the fulfillment of the Gospel Commission. But, in our modern era, obedience to the Gospel Commission has been poisoned by affluence. The antidote for affluence is consecration, the setting aside of things for holy purposes.

Peacetime priorities in times of war are nothing new among God’s people. God described the peacetime priorities of the people of Judah to Ezekiel: “So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain” (Eze. 33.31, NKJV).

How does this relate to me and my family? Simply put, God is calling me to shift from peacetime to wartime priorities. This means believing the Gospel Commission is truly possible to fulfill, accepting that God’s sole concern is not to bless me financially, renewing my sense of the value to God of a single saved human being, and aligning my very being with God as He seeks out and saves the lost.

To be blunt, God is asking me to evaluate myself and how I live my life. As I enter 2014, do I need to re-consecrate my time, financial priorities and spiritual gifts for God? By God’s grace, yes! Will you join me in re-consecrating yourself to God and the Gospel Commission in 2014?

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