Being a Living Sacrifice For God

“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.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  Romans 12:1-2

“A living sacrifice … your reasonable service.”  Those of us that are of the body of Christ need to give God our physical bodies for His will and purpose.  We are to give Him our very lives, to serve Him in whatever way He shows us.  This is not to be done just out of a sense of duty, but willingly, joyfully, by the mercies of God.  We are entreated to respond in love and obedience to His love for us.

“…holy, acceptable unto God…”  When we give our lives for God’s service, we are to make sure those lives are acceptable unto God.  How can we do this?

We have already accepted the gift of salvation, and had our previous sinful life forgiven; but as human flesh and blood, we will still have a tendency toward sin.  In order to keep ourselves holy and acceptable in God’s sight, we need to continually search our hearts and minds for any unacknowledged sin and repent of it.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139:23-24)

Un-confessed sin in our lives, and a wrong attitude in our hearts will block our prayers and our service to God.  “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”   (Psalm 66:18)  Read also the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:9-14.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  We are exhorted to live as God would have us live, not as the world lives.  We are to be transformed into Christ’s image by renewing our minds diligently through the reading and studying of God’s Word, the Bible.

We need to understand and know Jesus as He is; and the only way to do that is to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”  (2 Peter 3:18).

“that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  The outcome of this transformation will be that we will be capable of knowing and understanding what is the will of God.  We will be able to do “the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6); and will be able to “walk worthy of the Lord  unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10)

This is our reasonable service.

Let us do so with rejoicing.