“There Is a Difference in being a living sacrifice”
November 16, 2021
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
What is it like to be a Christian?
Being a Christian does not mean substituting a new set of “rules” for the old set, There Is a Difference in being a living sacrifice. People whose minds have been remodeled by God from within through life-giving faith in Jesus Christ. They are free of the restraints of old, distorted values and old, false standards. Christians are free to love and worship God by expressing victorious trust which is the center of their faith in Jesus.
St. Paul talking about worship, was not thinking about high altars, stained-glass windows, and the music of mighty organs. He was not even thinking of the old-time sacrifices, where blood flowed upon a stone altar as the symbolic offering of a man to his God.
There Is a Difference in being a living sacrifice, St Paul was talking about a real offering where a man offers himself in the freedom of his inmost being. Paul spoke of a sacrifice made possible by Jesus Himself for us all, which is acceptable to God. God did not impose any burden upon us, but appeals to us through St. Paul, and today through this message.
Dear reader; God’s mercies are for all humanity whom He created out of love in His image. His mercies are for you. God sent Jesus to seek and to save you. God is ready to give you a new and free life through faith in His Son Jesus. These are His mercies toward you. With those mercies in full view, don’t hesitate to present your body, your life, as a living sacrifice to Him.
There Is a Difference in being a living sacrifice and in being a Christian? Being a Christian is knowing the forgiveness of God that has been won for us by His Son Jesus through His life, death, and resurrection. Ref: Ephesians 2:8… “The old is gone; the new has come. And all this is the gift of God”
Romans 6:5-11 Assures us “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, raise us to newness of life in Your Son and awaken us to know There Is a Difference in being a living sacrifice..
In Jesus’ Name we pray.
Amen.
Reflection Questions:
-
- What are five traits (at least) that we should possess as Christians?
- What is it about Jesus that appeals to you?
- It’s been said that “Christians are in the world but not of it.” What does that mean to you?