Submitted
by David Miller
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
The
apostle Paul lived in an age when sensuality, the pursuit of pleasure, and
rebellion against the Lord were prevalent. Sounds extremely familiar, doesn’t it? We live in the same type of society
today. We are surrounded by things that
tempt us and challenge our very beliefs about who Christ really is and compels
us to compromise for the sake of compromising on our beliefs. This is not any different than what the
Apostle Paul was having to face. After
all, he was the one directly responsible for the persecution and punishment of
any person that claimed to have a personal relationship with a man named
Jesus. Of course, that is until that one
day on his way to Damascus.
After his life changing encounter with a heart changing Christ, Paul knew
that he would be closely watched by those who used to be his friends. They were going to be watching, just like
countless others to see if this new-found faith of his was real. Did it really change him? In the bible we learn that not only did it
change him, it radically changed him. So
in response to the culture and the society, he wrote letters urging Christians
not to follow in the ways of the world.
Like those early believers, we are to pursue
godliness by...
Presenting
our bodies to God. Our total being, mind,
will, physical body, personality, and emotions—are to be turned over to our
heavenly Father. (James 4:7, “Submit therefore to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you”).
Submitting ourselves to the Lord
requires both a definite decision to give Him control and a daily commitment to
remain under His authority. By surrendering to Him, we position ourselves for
godly living.
Becoming
living sacrifices. The Christian life is
built around the concept of sacrifice. Jesus left the perfection of heaven to
dwell among a sinful people so He might reconcile us to God. He offered up His
life for our sake—to make payment for our sins and to bring us into His
family. (1
John 3:16, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”). As
believers, we are to follow His example. Paul called it a living sacrifice,
because it is ongoing and repeated daily.
Life
is full of options. Many decisions involve a choice between following God’s way
or our own. Maturing Christians will increasingly sacrifice their own desires
and embrace His will.
A life
of godliness is characterized by a heart and mind bent toward the things of
God. Although we will live imperfectly, our aim should be to obey His will and
please Him. Let’s commit to becoming more like Jesus, the one who willingly
gave Himself as a sacrifice for us.
