A LIVING SACRIFICE

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.?

With this verse Paul provides a nutshell summary of how the Christian is to live his/her life.

Every believer is just a sinner saved by grace, according to the love and mercy of God through the willing sacrifice of the Son.  We all, whether Jew or Gentile, are part of the same family with the same mandate to testify of this good news to others and to live our lives according to God’s revealed will in unity of spirit.  Sadly, it is the lack of unity that is one of the enemy’s greatest tools against us that diminishes the impact of our testimony of the gospel.  I believe that much of that lack of unity is due to the tares that are growing with the wheat until the Lord decides it is time for the final harvest.

In light of all that God has done on our behalf, the only logical response from the believer should be to yield as a “living sacrifice” to God.  I chose the word yield from the meanings for present, but I also was hit by the phrase “to exhibit.”  When we are yielded to God, it will produce visible results in our lives that can be seen by others.  “Living sacrifice” brought to mind the term “die daily” that Paul uses in his letter to Corinthians.

1Corinthians 15:31 “I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

This is obviously referencing a mindset, an attitude that affects the choices we make, the actions we take, the words we say, etc.  When we respond to God in this way, our life will be holy and pleasing to God; we will be living in agreement with His revealed will. 

The word worship jumped out at me from the Greek for service.  When we are living our lives yielded to and in agreement with His will, it is an act of worship before God.  It’s our opportunity to give back to Him in the only way available to us in gratitude for the amazing love He has shown us.

As Paul so wonderfully expressed in chapter 7, it is the discipline of the body that is the problem. 

Romans 7:21–25 “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

The flesh exerts a powerful force in our lives.  The more we can discipline our body to act in concert with the desire of our inner man to serve God totally, the more powerful will be our testimony to all—both believers and unbelievers.