Monday, August 16, 2021
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
All In
In Romans 12, Paul gives Christians a practical plan for living out a life of faith. In the first 11 chapters of Romans he talks about the great mercy and grace of our Heavenly Father. It is this great mercy and grace that we build the foundation of our lives on, and as we present our bodies to Him, completely and wholly, that mercy and grace flows to others from us.
What Paul is saying is that ‘Given the weight of God’s mercy and grace presented in Chapters 1 – 11, the only logical response of the believer is to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice…”’ - Keith Warren
God wants all of us, and as He has given all for us, our response should be to present our whole lives to Him. There is so much more to us than skin and bones and the way we live our lives, our behaviors, and our values shouts to those around us who we really are. When we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, the way we live our lives should reflect the mercy and grace of God. This is our spiritual worship. We worship God with the way we live. True worship to God happens with our whole life. It is an act of worship when we live a life holy and acceptable to God.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…
We must be fiercely intentional these days about not being conformed to this world. We are immersed in political issues, social issues, pandemic issues, and much more. For the past year and a half we have been stirred up. Social media feeds our fears and riles our tempers. If we get distracted even a little, we can get swept away in the circumstances and events going on all around us, instead of renewing our minds in Him. Social media is not the place to go to really renew our minds. Even church alone - once or twice a week is not enough. It is a daily, continual effort on our part, because 2 hours after we have quiet time tomorrow morning, there will be something in the world that will try to shake us, discourage us, cause us to fear or doubt. These are the days - it is around us all the time. Satan is seeking to divide us - Americans, Christians, churches, families - and some days it seems like he is gaining momentum. We must continually renew our minds so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We cannot let our guards down, but keep our minds focused on Him and renewed by His word.
As believers, we are to resist being conformed into this system, and instead to be transformed by the Word of God, letting it work in our minds, shaping our thoughts, and eventually our actions…t’s not a rigorous and difficult path. Just simply allow the words of scripture to do their work within the realm of our thoughts. - Keith Warren
We are either all in or not - the Christian life doesn’t work halfway. When we try to do it halfway, God isn’t the one who is cheated. It’s us. We cheat ourselves out of the truest blessing He gives, and that is to be His completely. God is God, and although He loves us and wants a relationship with us where we are wholeheartedly devoted to Him - body, mind, and soul as a living sacrifice - He doesn’t need it. The world will not stop spinning if we don’t heed Paul’s words, but until we do, we will never be fulfilled and live the abundant life God has given. If we hold back even one little part of ourselves from Him, we miss out on the fulfillment of a life fully surrendered and mind transformed by His word.
