Logical Worship

Rom 12:1 "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.

When I was a teenager I did not like these verses. (1 and 2) I wanted to do what I wanted to do and I did not want to hear about being different than the world. The problem is, I could not get away from these verses. Rom 12:1 and 2 kept coming back to haunt me. I just could not get away from their power.

Now these are verses that I embrace. They are still convicting, but they are verses that I agree need to be lived out in my life.

Paul is pleading with the Roman Christians. I beseech you…I urge you…I implore you with the heart of God. This is not just some off the cuff suggestion. This is urgent. Do this…present your bodies as a living sacrifice. That is kind of weird. A sacrifice is dead isn’t it? Yes. Here we are, back at die to live. But Paul is getting real practical and bringing it down the physical aspect of my body.

What do I do with my body? What does the heart of God want for my physical body? He wants it to die to self. He wants it to be a sacrifice. But He wants it to be alive, available, useful, breathing, active for His service.

In the OT sacrifices had to be clean. They had to be unblemished. They had to be the best that could be offered. That is what God wants with my body as well. He wants it to be holy, set apart, pure and pleasing to Him.

We don’t hear about this much. That God’s heart is for our bodies to be holy so they can be living and used by Him to accomplish His service. We need to. I need to think about what I do with my body. Is it being used as a vessel of worship or am I selfishly doing my own thing and ignoring the God who gave His body. This is not holiness. This is being set apart for self.

Really, Jesus is not asking me to do anything that He has not already done. He killed His physical body and lived. I need to kill my physical desires, urges, and self seeking will and use my body for what God wants.

This is my reasonable act of service. It is my logical act of worship. It only makes sense.

Today I need to think about what I do with my body. Is it a vessel that brings glory to God or is it a tool that I use for my own selfish gain?