All tagged oil
Have you ever been anointed with oil? Has a Pastor, or elder, prayed over you as they took oil, and applied it to you? Did you understand what was happening at that moment, or did you think it was merely an aromatic balm, a lotion; and simply something symbolic we do in church? No, it is much more than that, anointing is a sacred practice and is Holy; when we do this the one being anointed is made Holy, Consecrated, and set apart for the use of God. Let’s look at this further.
Today we will be studying Holy Anointing within the church and its relationship to prayer. We will also consider the conditional nature of this gift and prayer's role in maintaining its freshness. Here is a quick rundown on anointing before we discuss these topics... There are different types of anointing; there is the simple practice of applying oil, or some other substance, to a person or thing, there is the common practice of anointing someone's head or feet as a sign of respect, there is an Ecclesiastical anointing of the sick, and then there is the Holy Anointing such as the one that priests and pastors receive, and which also carries with it the Hebrew translation of the word Messiah or “anointed”.
I read a thought provoking devotional this morning regarding spiritual anointing, and the indescribable attributes of that practice. I agreed with the author of this message, E.M. Bounds, when he wrote that it carries with it certain attributes that can't be put into words. We can't describe an anointing fully but we can speak to what it represents.
Oil plays an important role in the lives of the believer, it is used to anoint the godly, heals us, lights our way, serves as an offering, brings us gladness, and has so many other uses. The question each of us should ask ourselves today is what manner of oil do we bring into the world around us? Is the oil we carry fragrant, holy, and filled with joy, or is it a thick black unrefined oil that might lubricate man’s machines, but stains all that it touches? So today let’s begin to ask ourselves each day what manner of oil we bring with us as we walk out into our day.