A Living Sacrifice

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, "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" (12:1, KJV).

What does it mean to present your bodies as a living sacrifice unto God?

Think of the various "gates" like the mouth, ears and eyes where we allow things to enter while others things need to be kept out. What is coming out of our mouths? Jesus says it's not what goes in the mouth that defiles a man or woman but comes out of it (Matthew 15:11). Are we blessing and encouraging others or are we speaking foolishly and complaining?

What are we listening to throughout the day? Remember faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Imagine what listening to the world's voice can do by undermining faith and trust in Christ! Are we listening for the voice of the Lord or lending our ears to worldly music, godless talk radio or the seductive voices of materialism? What is our eyes watching? Are we fixated on th the things we covet and lust or is our eyes fixed on Christ seated above?

Paul describes this act of offering our bodies as a reasonable service. It's reasonable when we think of how Christ freely loved us enough to die on the cross. We can't add or take away from the finished work of Calvary by any fleshly efforts. But as an expression of obedience, we can yield our bodies to Him as instruments of righteousness.

Let me encourage you beloved that before you start the day, raise your hands to Him. I make an attempt to do this quite regularly during my time of prayer. Name the body parts you are offering. "God, take my hands let them be used to build and strengthen others by helping them." or "God, I offer my legs to you that I will run to you and will use them to stand on your promises".

Beloved, be very personal with Him when offering your body. Many of us have abused and misused our bodies and there are parts of our body that too often lend itself to temptation.

What does God do when we finish offering ourselves? Like Elijah who prayed after confronting the false prophets of Baal, fire fell from heaven and consumed not just the sacrifice but the altar as well (I Kings 18:38)! So too, God will receive your offering and fill you more of His power, might and strength to overcome the flesh.