Consecration

"but they first gave themselves to the Lord"

2 Corinthians 8:5

Every Christians can point to a time in their life when the truth of Christ penetrated their hearts and lives. At that moment, they "gave themselves to the Lord". They consecrated their lives to Him. For Abraham Lincoln, it happened when he walked among the thousands of graves at Gettysburg in July 1863. As he explained to a friend:

"When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ." 
The Holy Spirit works individually in the life of each man and woman to bring them to Himself. Like Lincoln, it is up to each of us to respond to His call.