I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 KJV
Today's extract is adressed to brethren, people who are connected by virtue of the blood of Jesus, and who answer to a superior master. Like it has been said before, Jesus refers to us as His friends because He trusts us with the assignment of reconciliation but that does not take anything away from the fact that we serve at His pleasure. If I agree to submit to another, I agree to his authority and undertake to obey and align with all that He commands. I can never get to a point where I think I got it all figured out. No Christian has really arrived until s/he arrives at home.
The plea, charge or counsel in today's extract is one that is very relevant to this present generation. God plays his part and supplies what we need to serve well: mercy and grace. We also have a part to play, and it is making my life a worthy present for a worthy superior. I am asked to present my body as a living sacrifice. If I am giving a gift to earthly superiors, I take my time to get the best, wrap it up beautifully and present it in sincerity. I match the gift to the value of the superior. If this applies in the physical, imagine the power it carries in the spiritual.
What does this charge mean? It means that God has supplied the grace I need to live right; I am the one who must act on that grace and do what is right. Sounds very odd to refer to sacrifices as living, but from God's perspective, it means that even though I am alive in the physical, my will and desires have been handed over to the superior. I am dead to the world and its desires but alive to the One to whom I have given control. Just like under the old covenant, the superior will only take what is holy, clean and free from all blemishes. I cannot do any less; anything less than the perfect offering is not acceptable to God.
I do the presentation; God will not force Himself on me. I depend daily on His supply of grace to live right. Holiness isn't old school or out of fashion; rather, it is God's minimum standard for engagement. He's not first seeking for perfect people. He needs surrendered people, who will trust His finished work and depend on His grace for everything they need to live in line with God's will. He then perfects His will in them as they daily depend on Him. You do your part; God always does His part. There is no limit to what God can do with a life that is totally surrendered to Him. His time of favour is here.
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