The Divine Inspection: No Area Untouched by His Glory

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." - Psalm 139:23-24

In the holy quietness of the ancient temple, every movement of the priests bore profound significance as they prepared the burnt offering. Nothing was hurried; nothing was casual. The sacrifice was not cast whole upon the altar in a single act of dedication, but methodically separated into distinct portions - the head, the fat, the inwards, and the legs. Each part underwent careful examination before meeting the consuming fire. This ceremony, ordained by God Himself, establishes a pattern for the thorough work He desires to accomplish in His end-time people.

"Each area surrendered becomes a channel for divine glory; each part offered transforms into an instrument for His purposes."

The significance of this pattern intensifies in our day. As darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, God is preparing vessels through whom His glory will shine with unprecedented brightness. Yet this manifestation cannot come through lives partially surrendered or superficially examined. The very specificity of the burnt offering's dissection reveals God's requirement for thorough inspection and complete consecration of every area of our lives.

Consider first the head - the throne room of the mind. In our generation, perhaps no area faces greater assault or requires more deliberate consecration than our thought life. The constant flood of information, entertainment, and digital stimulation wages relentless war against the renewed mind Christ desires to establish within us. What occupies our thoughts? What shapes our perspectives? What influences form our worldview? The enemy knows well that capturing the mind often leads to controlling the whole person. Yet God's requirement for headship goes beyond defensive protection to positive transformation. "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," Paul exhorts, knowing that a mind fully offered becomes a channel for divine wisdom and discernment.

The fat speaks next - that symbol of natural strength and self-sufficiency that must be specifically identified and separated. Here lies a particularly subtle challenge for capable, gifted individuals. How easy it becomes to rely on natural ability, to trust in education, experience, or expertise. "I can handle this," we assure ourselves, walking in the strength of our own understanding. Yet God requires this natural strength to be specifically identified and offered up. The accomplished speaker must learn to depend not on natural eloquence but on Holy Spirit anointing. The successful business person must submit strategies to divine guidance. The natural leader must often step back, allowing others to develop their gifts. Not that our abilities are destroyed, but rather surrendered, no longer operating independently but flowing in divine power.

Then come the inwards - perhaps the most searching area of inspection. Here lie our affections, our deep attachments, our emotional lives. The divine requirement touches every relationship, every ambition, every secret desire of the heart. Marriage, children, family, friendships - all must find their proper alignment under His lordship. Career aspirations, ministry desires, personal dreams - each must be laid upon the altar. The words of Jesus penetrate every defence: "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Not a call to literal hatred, but rather to such supreme love for God that all other loves, even the most sacred human bonds, find their proper place beneath divine affection.

Finally, the legs present themselves for inspection - our walk and our will, the practical direction and daily conduct of our lives. Here the offering becomes intensely practical. How do we spend our time? What guides our decisions? Where are we heading, and why? "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him," Paul admonishes. Our daily routines, our future plans, our use of resources - all must come under divine direction. This surrender touches everything from the smallest daily choice to life's major decisions.

The corporate implications of this inspection cannot be overlooked. We do not walk this path alone. Our mental consecration affects the church's collective discernment. Our surrendered natural abilities enhance the body's functioning. Our properly ordered relationships strengthen community life. Our submitted walk creates corporate testimony. God often uses our relationships within the body of Christ as instruments of inspection - mirrors revealing areas that yet need attention, testing grounds proving the reality of our consecration.

Yet initial inspection and offering, though crucial, mark only the beginning. Maintenance of consecration requires daily renewal. Each morning brings fresh surrender of each area. Each evening calls for honest review and adjustment. New levels of inspection must be welcomed, fresh light embraced, previous commitments maintained. This was well understood by the holiness movements of the early 1900s, who often spent weeks in careful consecration, allowing God to thoroughly search and prepare their hearts.

"We cannot afford partially inspected lives or incompletely offered areas. The coming glory requires vessels fully prepared, lives thoroughly surrendered."

Dear pilgrim on this path of deeper consecration, approach this inspection not with dread but with holy anticipation. Each area surrendered becomes a channel for divine glory; each part offered transforms into an instrument for His purposes. In these crucial hours, we cannot afford partially inspected lives or incompletely offered areas. The coming glory requires vessels fully prepared, lives thoroughly surrendered.

Let us pray:

Sovereign Lord, Master Inspector, we invite Your thorough examination of our lives. Begin Your detailed work in each area - our minds, our natural strength, our affections, and our walk. Grant us courage to face what You reveal and strength to offer what You require. Make the inspection specific and the surrender complete.

Transform our minds until they mirror Your thoughts. Redirect our natural abilities until they flow in Your power. Order our affections until they reflect Your heart. Guide our steps until they follow Your path perfectly.

Let no area remain uninspected, no part unoffered. Prepare us as vessels fit for Your end-time purposes, channels through which Your glory can flow unhindered. Unite us with fellow believers in this journey of consecration, that together we might manifest Your glory in these last days. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Based on Neville Johnson's message, "The Burnt Offering."