Spontaneous Human Combustion and the Norovirus

I've been reading Joshua recently, a God appointed journey into the random world of ancient Israel storming, forming and norming their way through the middle east. One thing though which has caught my attention is the call on the people of Israel to 'consecrate' themselves and 'devote' the cities they conquer to God. To 'consecrate' seems to involve washing, making pure and other nice Christian images, whereas to 'devote' means to completly annihilate, to reduce to ash! Not so seeker friendly! Interestingly though 'consecration' remains an Old Testament thing to do (the only references to it in the New Testament concern the 'consecrated' things in the Jewish temple). 'Devotion' however is very much a New Testament word, the early church were devoted, Acts 2:42, Paul instructs his churches to be devoted on several occasions - and the implication is still to allow yourself to be utterly consumed for the glory of God a la Romans 12. Set this in a Kingdom context, all things being progressively (now and not yet) brought under the headship of Jesus Christ and you end up with a Christianity which could never be mistaken for mediocre! Several times in the New Testament Paul refers to the Church as the 'firstfruits of the Spirit', the beginnings of a kingdom epidemic effecting the transformation of the entire cosmos, the devotion of all things unto God, the consumption of all things into Christ. So then the Kingdom of God is a little bit like spontaneous human combustion and the Norovirus!