SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO GOD!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY APRIL 16, 2020.

SUBJECT: SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO GOD! 

Memory verse: "And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Romans 6 vs 13.)

READ: Romans 12 vs 1 - 2:

12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

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

INTIMATION:

In view of the fact that God’s grace was poured out for our salvation, our natural response is to obediently comply with the directions of the One who has offered the grace. Christians should be motivated to respond to all that God has done by giving themselves totally to to God who gave His only begotten Son to them. Presenting yourself as a living sacrifice is the natural response of the spiritually-minded individual who has come to know and appreciate the grace of God. 

Just as the Levitical Law (Leviticus 1 vs 9) called for the total consumption of the burnt offering for sin upon the altar of sacrifice, so must Christians give their lives totally to God. It is only reasonable to respond with worship to God for His grace that was manifested through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. We should offer our lives in sacrificial worship and service to Him. Those who have not given their lives totally to God have not appreciated the grace of God. If because of His grace God was willing to offer His Son, who was eternal in heaven, then certainly it is not unreasonable that we give to Him the totality of our short life on earth. 

It is also the mind of the flesh to reason that one can give anything less than the totality of his life and believe that God’s grace will reward him for his lukewarm commitment. The committed mind is directed by purposes that are higher than the material world and the ambitions of the selfishly driven individual. The thinking of the Christian is to be on those things that will last beyond the existence of this world. Therefore, he is not to engage his or her thinking in those things that would divert his or her life from the eternal purposes of God. 

To sacrifice yourself is to submit to God in devotion. He wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices—daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us. We do this out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven. God has good, pleasing, and perfect plans His children. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, living to honor and obey Him. Because He wants only what is best for us, and because He gave His Son to make our new life possible, we should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for His service.

Our skills, capabilities, and bodies can serve many purposes, good or bad. In sin, every part of the our body is vulnerable. In Christ, every part can be an instrument for service. It is the one to whom we offer our service that makes the difference. We are like lasers that can burn destructive holes in steel places or do delicate cataract surgery. Will you give yourself completely to God, asking Him to put you to good use to His glory? 

Let us not lose sight of the end result of all our humility and self-sacrifice—a joyous banquet with our Lord! God never asks us to suffer for the sake of suffering. He never asks us to give up something good unless He plans to replace it with something even better. Jesus is not calling us to join Him in a labor camp but in a feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19 vs 6 - 9), when God and His beloved church will be joined forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, my utmost heart desire is for an intimate relationship with You, that I may be a living sacrifice to You, and You will put me in to good use to Your glory, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!