A Living Sacrifice to God

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

Have you ever tried reading the Bible in a year? Back in January of this year, our Pastor suggested that we read through the Bible together as a church family in 2008. As a reminder of our commitment to God, each other and ourselves he asked us to write down somewhere in our Bibles… “In 2008 I commit to read through the Bible.” Then he asked us to sign our names underneath the statement. I will never forget, it was as if time stood still for me. He was asking me to make a huge commitment. What if I started off reading the Bible every day and then slacked off, could I live with the guilt? I wrote the statement and as I signed it asked God to help me be faithful to the commitment I had just made.

Wow, what a journey it has been since that Sunday back in January. Since then our family has gone through ups and downs, accompanied by much change. One thing I will always be thankful for was our pastor asking us to put our commitment in writing. Seeing those words written on one of the first few pages of my Bible has held me accountable in times of sluggishness and discouragement. That doesn’t mean I haven’t missed reading a day since January. In fact, I have to confess that I have missed several days here and there. I have done my best and played catch up more than a few times. I believe God understands our struggle more than we think he does he does. I believe the fact that we struggle at all and do our best to honor our commitments to God pleases him, it’s when we stop trying that our heavenly Father is not pleased. I pray that the day will come when I am more disciplined and intentional in my spiritual walk. It might take my whole life to accomplish, but I think that’s okay with God, as long as I am doing my best to reach that goal.

In reading the Bible this year, God has lead me to Scripture that has ministered to me, opened my eyes, held me accountable, softened my heart, given me hope and courage and has filled me with joy. In my Christian walk I have had many questions and in reading God’s word, some of those questions have been answered. It took me eight months though, eight months to get to the Scripture in Romans that really sums up the answers to many of the questions that I’ve had. It was in Romans Chapter 12 that the Lord took me by the hand and said, “Listen here, and listen well…this is what I expect from my children. This is how I want my children to live and love.” Wow!

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” Romans 12:6-21

Romans is a great book of the Bible and God uses Paul to give us specific instructions. I have heard some people say they wish life came with an instruction manual, well it does….it’s the Bible. Even though we have such clear instructions, we miss the mark so often. These aren’t just words written in a highly regarded, historical book..it is the word of God. If this is the word of God, why doesn’t the world regard it as such and live by God’s word? I will tell you why, aside from there being a lot of people that haven’t heard about Jesus, it’s because Satan works really hard at trying to keep us from being more like Christ. He sets snares for us and delights in our falls. He also delights in keeping us from the commitments we make to God, by trying to keep us so bogged down and immersed so deeply in this world. He doesn’t want us to give our time, attention and devotion to God. Instead he wants us to give our time to things of little importance, our attention to things only of this world and our devotion to the false idols that surround us.

We can’t let the enemy triumph over us and our purpose. We need to bow our hearts before the Lord each day, all day. If we leave God out of our lives, or even out of parts of our lives, we aren’t living for him. Instead we are selfishly living for ourselves. When will we realize that not only do we belong to God, but everything belongs to God? We need to live the way God is instructing us to live and one day on the other side of eternity we will hear our heavenly Father say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Until we realize that it’s not about us, or our successes, or how much we have, or what we want and realize that it’s all about God, his will for our lives and our life in eternity with him, we will continue to miss the mark every time.
God knows we aren’t perfect, yet he still loves us. He loved us enough to send his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on Calvary’s cruel cross while we were still sinners. So why not give your life to Christ right now by praying a simple prayer…

Father God, I am sorry and repent of my sins. I want to change my life around and live for you. In Romans 10:9 you tell us if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and if we believe in our hearts that you raised him from the dead, we will be saved. So Lord, I ask you right now to come live inside my heart, because I do confess Jesus Christ is Lord and I do believe God raised him from the dead. Thank you God for loving me. Amen.

If you just prayed the prayer above and meant it with your whole heart that was the first step in a journey worth taking. The journey won’t be an easy one, the road will be narrow, now take up your cross and walk with Christ. Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ walked down the road to Calvary to die for your and me on a cruel cross. It was the blood he shed that washed us clean when we repented of our sins and accepted his gift of salvation. Now let us present our bodies, a living sacrifice, as it says is Romans 12:1 and not be conformed to the ways of this world, as it says in Romans 12:2.