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.
The other day I was sitting in church and this verse popped up on the screen. And I jotted this thought down in my journal that I keep sermon notes in -
"Offer our lives as a HOLY and LIVNG SACRIFICE? Our lives ARE holy and acceptable BECAUSE of His mercies and grace. We do not and CANNOT do anything..."
This thought just washed over me like a warm and wanted wave. Paul was not saying "do this and THEN your lives will be holy and acceptable". The next verse goes on to say:
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.
I think the order of this is VERY important. He does not say "be transformed and THEN offer your lives" He says to offer them first.
I think Paul is saying present your life to God, Holy and acceptable because it is. It is already acceptable. It is already holy.
Read that again.
MY LIFE...YOUR LIFE... IS ALREADY HOLY. There is NOTHING YOU OR I HAVE DONE OR WILL DO TO MAKE IT THAT WAY. IT ALREADY IS.
How? BY THE MERCIES OF GOD. His mercies that sent a tiny baby into the world. His mercies that grew that baby into a holy and acceptable living sacrifice. His mercies that put that man on the cross so that everyone could be saved. HIS mercies.
And after you present your life holy and acceptable? Then... THEN do not be conformed. Give. Give first. THEN be transformed.
I spend A LOT of time wanting to be transformed. Waiting to be transformed. But I realize that I have not fully offered my life as a sacrifice. I felt like I had to be transformed in order to be holy. I got it completely wrong! Praise God for His word that is always revealing so much to us!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment