A Living Sacrifice

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Scripture

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
(Romans 12:1 NASB)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:2 NASB)

 

Observation


The Christian walk is not one which is to be taken lightly. We are asked to literally offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. That means that our physical life, the things that we do on a daily basis are to be offered to God as a sacrifice to him. Not only are we to be living sacrifices, but we are to be holy as well. A holy sacrifice, meaning that every nook and cranny of our being has been made holy by the presence of God's Holy Spirit. Our daily offering of ourselves becomes our spiritual worship. The result is that we don't conform to the world, but rather we are transformed into the likeness of Christ. That is the transformation which occurs when we offer our entire being as a sacrifice to God on high. We are constantly in a state of transformation because our minds have been renewed because we are now in Christ. The will of God is acted out within our lives because his will becomes our will and the world can then see what God truly desires for his children.

 

Application


When I was a teenager my pastor preached a sermon series on the book of Romans. I can still remember the place where I was sitting when Dr. Gordon Wetmore preached his sermon from Romans 12. It's one of those messages that has always stuck with me and at that tender age I was moved by these words which challenged me to consider the life that lay ahead of me, and what I would do with it! Was I going to go my own way and do my own things, or was I going to be willing to offer my life to God as a living sacrifice?


The words of this sermon stuck with me and the question of becoming a living sacrifice haunted me. Was I willing to offer my life to him as a living sacrifice? I had my own dreams, my own goals, my own ideas about what I would become and what I would do with my life. However, a few months after hearing this sermon, I remember very clearly turning everything over to the Lord. I struggled and argued, but finally realized what it meant to offer myself as a living sacrifice -- allow God to take control of every part of my being and to use me for his glory. My prayer is that my life is a reflection of him. My life journey has been one that I could not even have imagined. It has simply been a journey with him each and every single day.


This call is for all of us. We are all asked to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. The paths which life may take may not be what we anticipate, but they will be ones that will allow God to get the glory. Become a living sacrifice today!

 

Prayer


Lord, please help my life to be a daily reflection of you to this world and to lay down my rights to myself so that I might be a continuous living sacrifice for you. Amen.

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