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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, 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.”
A ‘Living’ Sacrifice?
As I said before, I believe Mary could well have been in the back of Paul’s mind when he wrote this. Mary, the humble young virgin who ‘offered’ her body as a living sacrifice to God. Her womb to be the womb for none other than God’s Son, our Saviour. It meant that she had to suffer the stigma of being ‘seen’ as a promiscuous pregnant girl before she was married which almost cost her, her engagement to Joseph (see Matthew 1:19).
It also reminds me of the old joke so often used before taking up a collection at church. A pig and chicken were walking down the street past the local church where there was a sign saying, ‘Ham and egg breakfast in aid of church restoration fund.’ “Look”, said the chicken, “They couldn’t do it without me.” “True” replied the pig, “But whereas yours is an offering, I get involved, mine is a sacrifice!”
You see, it’s all a matter of degree. Most of us, at best, offer an offering. God, through Paul, urges us to go that bit further and to present our “bodies as living sacrifices”. As someone else put it – The problem is that too many living sacrifices keep crawling off the altar.
As Paul says, I need to “die every day” (1 Corinthians 15:31) so that I may know “the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). There is no other way. You cannot know resurrection power without a prior death. We must put God first in our lives – and our bodies, which are “a Temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
How can I tell if I worship God? By singing? No. By presenting my body a “living sacrifice”. It is my ‘practical’ “spiritual act of worship.”
“Do not conform.” “Do not conform any longer.” Hello! “Don’t conform any longer.” Stop it.
Paul was saying, “Hello” to his readers, too. We so easily get squeezed into the world’s mould. Listen, most societies today are either pagan or ‘post-Christian’ and yet so many Christians are being sucked into their paradigm. We are here to be “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16) to challenge and change society. Jesus said the last days would be like “the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:36-39). He challenged society for all of the 100 years he was building the Ark (Hebrews 11:7). We need to follow his example, whether people change or not.
Listen, we need to “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]”. We need to change. We must change. No, it’s not just for everyone else, it’s for me too. We must stop and change.
We are all programmed into our society wherever we live. We all have a set of beliefs, which need replacing by the Word of God. The number of Christians who think that prayer will accomplish the renewal of their mind instantly, constantly amazes me. It won’t. It is an active thing, not a passive thing. It happens by changing my beliefs to line up with the Word of God. Filling my mind with His Word, ‘overwriting’ what is already there and then ‘saving’ the truth.
The mind is like a computer and as the commentary goes, ‘Garbage in equals garbage out.’ So it is with us. It never ceases to amaze me how many Christians fill their minds with rubbish and wonder why their Christian walk is weak, full of doubt, joyless or just plain sub-standard.
What you watch, read and listen to ALL affects you. We live in a depraved world – the only antidote is the Word of God. If you want to start the day depressed, read the daily newspaper for longer or instead of the Bible.
You probably need 4 times as much of the Word of God as the world’s view just to ‘stand still’. So many of us have the ratio the other way around - how then can we pretend to know the Will of God? (Try listening to Christian Radio, C.D.’s and tapes, too.)
Can I encourage you? It’s not too late to change. Start allowing the ‘Promises’ and ‘Word of God’ to bring you life, joy and hope.
Lastly – Is your life an ‘offering’ or a ‘sacrifice’ to God? Ask Him for the answer.
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