April 22, 2021 I URGE YOU
Romans 12:1-2 “I urge you therefore, brethren, that by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on the tablets of human hearts.”
Our life matters; how we live matters; our life is a living letter to all. In a recent blog, the subject was that of presenting ourselves to God. From the above verses, we see that we are to present our “bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.” We often think about and talk about out ‘spiritual’ life, and rightly so-our spiritual life is certainly important. However, if our spiritual life is in accordance to the word of God, our physical life will be a reflection of our spiritual relationship with the Lord; we must not in our minds separate or segment the spiritual and the physical. Presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice is worship. It is a sacrifice in that we are choosing to place our affections and our preferences to the Lord rather than to ourselves-to what the flesh desires. We must resist the temptation to be conformed to this world; one way of doing that is by presenting our bodies as a holy and living sacrifice and by renewing our minds with the word of God. Presenting our bodies in this way is not something we can take credit for; it is only by the “mercies of God” that we can do so. This is a perfect example of us working with God as He works in us; God initiates or makes possible, and we respond. The miracle is that when we present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice and as we renew our minds, we then begin to see and to know that His will is “good acceptable and perfect.” The normal pattern is that understanding the ways of God follows our obedience. It is a giant step forward for us when we realize that the life we live in the nitty-gritty of everyday life is a letter read by all. The crucial point is that our ‘letter’ reflects the character and the goodness of God and not something else. God writes His letter on the tablet of our hearts, and we have the opportunity to share that letter with all. Presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice looks very practical; we express care for others; we bless others; we renew our mind; we love others and prefer others more important than ourselves; we give; we pray for others; we worship God; and we have hope and confidence in God. And we have all of this and do all of this only because of the mercies of God. If our ‘letter’ has not been that good of a letter in the past, we can start today with a new letter because God is a God of new beginnings and He is anxious to write His letter in our hearts is such a way that others will see what He is writing.
2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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