I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. –Romans 12:1-2
What are some practical ways you can fully surrender your life to God? Sometimes we get too comfortable in our lifestyle. Here’s a gentle reminder:
I would love to buy $3 worth of God, please; not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.*
I’m afraid too many people approach their Christian faith as if they wanted to buy $3 worth of God. They want only the best that God has to offer. As today’s Scripture points out, you can’t have both. God’s desire for your life is that you actually give your body as a living sacrifice to Him. If you choose to identify with Jesus, you are choosing to make Him the Master of your life. A life fully surrendered to Jesus is lived on the edge of adventure.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Romans 12:1-2 challenges us to give our bodies as living sacrifices. How would you define a living sacrifice?
2. Are there certain areas of your life that you have yet to surrender to God? Maybe it’s your finances, a personal relationship or even an area of your spiritual discipline. Is now the time to give it all to Jesus?
FURTHER READING:
Romans 6:13-16; Ephesians 4:1; 1 Peter 2:5
* Charles Swindoll, Improving Your Serve (Waco, TX: Word, 1981), p. 28.