“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
“It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.”
Joe 2:16
gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
Job 1:5
And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.
Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Jeremiah 4:14
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
Acts 8:22
Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
Mark 7:21-23
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
I copied some comments on consecration from a commentary which brings to light why Joel said to gather all the people from infant to bride groom. To “consecrate” yourself essentially means to wholly dedicate yourself to something of greatest important. When spoken plainly, however, “consecration” refers to the act of setting yourself aside and dedicating yourself to a deity, and that deity almost always refers to the God of Christianity. On one hand, we all need to consecrate ourselves once and for all to God. But after our initial consecration, we should live a life of consecration all our days. We can do this by actively practicing to daily give ourselves to the Lord. Each morning when we wake up, we can simply tell the Lord, “Lord, thank You for this new day. I offer myself to You today.” In this way, we maintain a fresh, daily consecration. We can also give ourselves to the Lord afresh at particular points in our lives. For instance, if we’re students, we can give ourselves to the Lord at the beginning of each new school term. Or, if we get a new job or a promotion, we can pray, “Lord, I give this new job to You. It’s not mine but Yours. I belong to You.” It is one thing to dedicate your life in all you do to God and another to spend no time getting to know and understand Him through His word. There is no stopping to this learning and growth. Spend time each day with His word seeking to know Him so that in all you think, say and do honor and glorifies Him.