A Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1-2:
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 that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
In serving God, we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice means that as we live, in our daily lives, we must submit to Him. We must be willing to sacrifice our lives for him.
Our daily living must be holy because that is what is acceptable to God. Thus, every aspect of our lives must be holy. We cannot be holy without knowing the Word of God and doing what God wants. This is because God is holy and if God is holy, and we are doing what he has said, which will make us holy, then we will be meeting this charge of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable.
But verse 2 goes further and teaches us how to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. it tells us not to be conformed to this world. This means that if we are conformed to this world, we cannot be holy. If we are not conformed to the world that we live in, then what are we supposed to do? The Bible tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So we should not copy the behaviors, the customs and style of living in this world but we should change the way we think. When we change the way we think by renewing our mind with the Word of God, then we will know what the will of God is for our lives. At least, we can be assured that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect.
We should also be happy to do God’s will. We should not look at our living sacrifice with regret or sadness. We should be delighted about it because the result is doing the will of God which is good, acceptable and perfect. Psalm 40:8 states:
I delight to do Your will, O my God; And Your law is within my heart.
It is also important to point out that it is easy to do the will of God if the law of God is within our heart. So let us keep the law of God within our heart to enable us do the will of God and be delighted in doing so. Keeping God’s law in our heart will also enable us to desire to do the will of God more than our own will.
Therefore beloved, let us present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God and be happy to do so.
#AdvocateForChrist
Written by Kow Essuman, Esq. ACIArb
The author is a barrister; qualified to practise law in England and Wales, New York and Ghana; an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in England; a Global Shaper (Accra Hub) of the World Economic Forum and a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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