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.
Paul is begging us to offer ourselves to God. He says that we are to do this based on the mercies of God. What an amazing thought, the mercies of God… that God would take sinners like us, and allow us to be changed into His children all because of His mercy and love for us! It is because of that mercy that we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. We should be willing to go wherever, to do whatever, and to give whatever God asks of us. When we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice that is exactly what we are doing. We are giving God control of everything, every part of our life. Our response to God, our worship of God is based on who He is and what He has done. He is a God of mercy and love; that is who He is. He has given us His mercy and love. He has poured it out upon us. We have no other choice but to give Him our whole lives. That is what He asks. That is what He requires.
Paul tells us in this verse that giving ourselves in this way is our reasonable service. It is our spiritual act of worship. It is not asking too much, it is not expecting us to go above and beyond. It is reasonable. It makes sense. Based on what God has done for us, we should be ready to lay down our lives for Him. He gave His all for us, so we should lay our lives down at His feet. We deserve death and condemnation. He has given us life and mercy and peace. For that, we should respond to Him by giving Him our lives. We must make ourselves available to Him in any way that He wants to use us. This is living a life of worship. This is the proper response to what He has done in our lives. Paul was a man who had done this in his own life. When he accepted Christ into His life, he gave up everything to follow Jesus. He laid it all on the line for the One who laid it all on the line for Him. God has done that for you. He has done that for me. Our response to Him should be one of giving Him our all, 100%. We must lay our lives down on His altar and trust Him with it. We will live the life God has planned for us when we trust Him with every part of our life.
1. When you think of living a life for God, do you think of it as a response to His mercy?
2. Are there areas of your life that you need to lay on the altar for God?
3. How can you respond to God based on all that He has done for you?
Today, look for the times that you can allow yourself to be used by God, times that you can lay yourself on the altar to be used by Him.
A Pastor's Thoughts 