by Naomi Chua
To dedicate is to set apart, to make holy, to be devoted to God and to surrender one’s self to serve God and for God’s use.
My husband and I recently welcomed a new addition to our family – our precious little baby girl, Magdalene. Firstly, it wasn’t easy conceiving her. My husband and I tried naturally for some time but the pregnancy test results were negative. There was a period I didn’t even want to take the pregnancy test because I was afraid of seeing another negative test result. Also, even with several cycles of the prescribed pills from my gynecologist and closely following her instructions, we still didn’t conceive. Finally, it was during a ‘dark hole’ period, when we were filled with uncertainty as we couldn’t calculate my ovulation period, that we finally conceived! Undeniably it has to be God’s Hands upon us!
Secondly, throughout the pregnancy we had several ‘scares’ – such as bleeding even after the first trimester, an initially low-lying placenta, an initial abnormality of one of her brain scans and my baby initially being in a breeched position. Despite all of these medical ‘scares’, God delivered my baby through all of them! My baby was naturally delivered at full term. She is a healthy baby, full of vigor! Through all of these ups and downs in our conception and pregnancy, she is truly, truly so precious to my husband and me.
One of our first few prayers to God upon Magdalene’s arrival was to dedicate her to God. We prayed that this precious girl would grow up to love Jesus, to grow daily in His wisdom and become a mighty vessel for God’s purpose. As a mother, it took me courage to utter this prayer of dedication to God. It is my way of surrendering and entrusting my precious child to God, to allow Him to mold and use my daughter for His purpose.
I can relate so well to a mother in 1 Samuel 1. Her name is Hannah. She was childless for a long time and desperately pleaded God to give her a son. After her prayer was answered by God, she responded faithfully as shown in 1 Samuel 1:27 – 28 (NLT) “I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life…” When God answered Hannah’s prayer and blessed her with a precious child, she kept her promise and dedicated her child back to God.
To dedicate is to set apart, to make holy, to be devoted to God and to surrender one’s self to serve God and for God’s use.
Now, let us pause and recollect all the blessings and answered prayers from God. As we give thanks to Him for all of these, let us dedicate our blessings back to our Blesser. Let us set apart, devote and surrender the blessings to the God who has blessed us. The blessing could be your child(ren), Dedicate them to God. Teach them the Word and ways of God, explore ways for them to serve God. The blessing could be your home. Dedicate your home to God, for His love to always permeate through your conversations and for people to know God through your household. The blessing could be your finances. Give unto God generously and obediently for the extension of His work. Whatever the blessing may be, dedicate it back to God your Blesser! As you do so in cheerful obedience, God will honor your faithfulness!