“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. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1,2 NKJV
One of the first passages of scripture I can
remember memorizing as a child was these two verses from Romans 12. As I’ve grown older it has become apparent
just why these were chosen for a new believer as they are considered by many to
be fundamental for our understanding of just what our Savior wants from us. As
I have received so many questions in the past year or more about how we should
respond to what we as a body are suffering from as the world around us seems to
be losing its collective mind, my thoughts continually return to these two
verses, and the message they have for us.
Three things came to mind as I read this passage and I want to share them with
you today. The first thing I thought of was the word "present". Now
obviously in this context it is used to mean "to give", as in give
away, but I also thought of the idea of our bodies being a present as in a
"gift" which we give to someone else. It seems to me that Paul is
saying that we should give our bodies to God as a living gift for Him to use as
He sees fit. I'm sure all of us have received a gift for one reason or another,
and so are familiar with the feeling of joy that is produced when given
something of value. So why do we "give" a gift of value to someone
else? First we do it because we care about that person, and second because we
want to see the joy it produces when received. Why do we care enough to give a
gift to God? Well, one of the first things I was taught about studying the
Bible was when you see the word "therefore", you look at the verses
that come before to see what it's "there for".
“Oh,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For
who has known the mind
of the LORD? Or
who has become
His counselor? “Or who
has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are
all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-36 NKJV
You see, it's because of His riches and all that He has done for us that we
want to give something back of value to Him. Paul tells us that our bodies, as
a "living sacrifice", is the thing that God will find most
"pleasing" so we give it as a gift knowing that God will never "take"
it but rather patiently waits for us to give it.
The second thought that came to mind was that when you give a gift to someone,
you release ownership of it. It no longer belongs to you, but to the person you
gave it too. Now of course, some have tried that and we know there is a term
for people who give things away and then try to take them back, but the whole
idea here is to give away without wanting back. That's what makes it a
sacrifice. Yet if our bodies are to be a "living sacrifice", the
question must be asked just how often do we take it back in order to do what we
want rather than what God wants? If we truly give our bodies to God, we should
never want them back, but completely surrender our desires to Him and allow Him
to use us as He will. As much as I wish I could say I have never taken my body
back I can't, and I expect there are a lot of you who have to join me in saying
that.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.”
The third thought that came to me is that our "present" to God must
be "acceptable". Now that scares me on the surface because I know there
is no way I could make my body in any way "acceptable" to God so that
He would be pleased with it. But if you read on you find that Paul isn't
telling us that "we" do the cleaning to make our lives
"acceptable".
The point Paul is trying to make here is that God does the work for us when we
allow Him to transform our minds, which then results in us becoming acceptable.
But we have to make the choice to allow our minds to be transformed. How do we
do that? Well, this verse seems to make it clear that it is really a question
of black and white. Either we are concerned with the things of this world, or
doing the will of God. There doesn't really seem to be any middle ground here.
Paul says it's one or the other. Most of us would agree that the spirit of this
age is obviously the advancement of self. It's all about what we have, what we
can get, what makes me happy, what's in it for me, etc. What Paul is telling us
is that we need to be transformed so that our thoughts are about what God
wants, what will glorify Him, what does He want me to do? Just the opposite of
what the world says we are to be concerned with.
Have you truly sacrificed yourself? Are you so thankful for the mercy God has
shown to you that you want to give Him the gift of your body? Do you love Him
enough that you won't try to take it back, and instead allow Him to use you as
He will? Have you allowed Him to transform your mind so you think only of what
He wants, rather than what you want? God says our bodies can be a pleasing gift
to Him, and one that He will be happy to receive if we truly are willing to be
transformed. As we all struggle with
what is happening around us, it is vitally important to “remember our vows” and
rest in the knowledge that our Savior Jesus Christ will protect and provide for
us as the day of His appearing draws ever closer.
Keep watching.
