Read: Romans 12:1, Romans 6:11-14
What does it mean to present your body as a living sacrifice to God? This verse,
For the first century Christian this language of a sacrifice would not have been so foreign. For them sacrifices were as familiar as watching the television is to us. Both Jews and Gentiles would be extremely familiar with the bloody act of sacrificing an animal to his or her god. They would know what it is like to completely surrender an animal to be sacrificed to their deity.
This is what it means for a Christian to give their bodies as living sacrifices. In response to the incredible mercy of God by which He has given us everything we give everything of ourselves to Him. Our every action, our every word, every single part of our lives is now given to God for His glory and honour. We cannot claim any part of our lives or ourselves as being our own.
Think of how this kind of sacrifice would affect every area of your life. It would include your work. No longer are you working only for yourself or for your family. Instead you present yourself as a living sacrifice to God and you work first and foremost for Him. In your recreation time you are no longer only spending your time for yourself but you are spending it for God. It includes our sports, our driving, our parenting, our marriages, our friendships. The list could go on. To present our bodies as living sacrifices means that we no longer live for ourselves in any of these areas. Instead, we live for God, giving everything of ourselves to Him.
Notice also how Paul describes this living sacrifice: “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”. God desires that we be holy and pleasing to Him. Of course, apart from Christ, we cannot clean ourselves up enough to be holy and pleasing to God. But we are cleaned up by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that is what Paul has been explaining for the first 11 chapters. This does not give us freedom to indulge in sin. Our response to this mercy is to grow in holiness by the power of the Spirit and become more and more pleasing to God in the way we live our lives.
Paul talks about this in Romans 6 as well. Rather than offer our bodies to sin as instruments of wickedness we are to offer ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness. If we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God we cannot continue in sin. We cannot go on sinning with our body at the same time as we are presenting it to God as a living sacrifice. The idea is ridiculous. We must be deadly serious about dealing with sin in our lives.
In response to God’s great mercy let us present all of ourselves and every part of our lives to God as we strive with the help of His spirit to grow in holiness and godliness.
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray that God would be working in your heart, mind and body that He would help you to present yourself as a living sacrifice to Him. Pray that He would be growing you in holiness and righteousness. Pray that He would be doing this work in everyone in your congregation.
God doesn’t just want our Sonday’s. He wants every single part of our lives. How can you remind yourself every day to give God every single moment and every part of your life?
1. What would it look like to be a living sacrifice in the following areas of your life?
Þ At work
Þ With your family
Þ When watching TV
Þ Playing sports
Þ On holidays
Intro: I love getting gifts, don’t you? Imagine that someone broke your gift and only gave you half. How would that make you feel?
Share: A really cool gift you got. What was it? What made it so good?
Read: Romans 12:1 When Paul says that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices he means that we are to give ourselves as a gift to God. We can’t give God only half of us, we have to give Him everything. What does it look like to give yourself to God as a gift?
Pray Together: Thank God for His love for us through His son Jesus. Pray that He would help us to give ourselves entirely to Him every day.
Intro: I love getting gifts, don’t you? Imagine that someone broke your gift and only gave you half. How would that make you feel?
Share: A really cool gift you got. What was it? What made it so good?
Read: Romans 12:1 When Paul says that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices he means that we are to give ourselves as a gift to God. We can’t give God only half of us, we have to give Him everything. What does it look like to give yourself to God as a gift?
Pray Together: Thank God for His love for us through His son Jesus. Pray that He would help us to give ourselves entirely to Him every day.
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