There has been just a wee bit of excitement in my life in the past week with the impending release of my new Bible study, HeBrews: A Better Blend. Just the fact that God allows me to minister in the name of Jesus is a blessing and a huge responsibility that I do not take lightly. Part of that ministry are these Heart Notes posts. I hope they are a blessing to you. If you name the name of Jesus over your life, you need God’s Word spoken into your life, as do I. So, let’s allow our final June Scripture to fill our heart.
Sometimes God uses Scripture to gently nudge us. At other times, He nearly beats us half to death with it. Such was the case with today’s verse. Several years ago there was a period of months where every turn I made it seemed that Romans 12:1-2 was there. In my daily Bible study, in a book I was reading, on the radio, in the pastor’s sermon, on a flip calendar, a devo book….it was everywhere. Flitter, I fully expected it to be written on a bathroom wall when I sat down to do my business. I just couldn’t get away from it, and this went on for several months. Obviously God was trying to instill it in my heart. I committed it to memory, and began to use it as a prayer from my heart to God’s. Today I want us to look at verse 1, then next week, we will examine verse 2.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12: 1 (NIV)
Well, I do declare! Now what exactly do you do with that? Sounds like God wants me to crawl up on an altar and offer myself to Him, doesn’t it?
In fact, that is exactly what He wants all of us to do. If we are serious about this Jesus business…about the whole ‘Christ in me, the hope of glory’ thingy….then we would do well to fling wide our arms before God, cast our gaze to the heavens, and tell God that we offer our body, every inch of it, as a living sacrifice to Him.
What does that mean? It means we allow Jesus to come out of our mouths when we speak. It means that we become the hands and feet of Jesus to a stinkin’, rotten, dying world. It means that daily I crucify my desires, and allow His desires to rule me. It means that I allow Jesus to do in, and through, and with me anything He desires.
It’s what we do if we really, really, really want to follow Christ. Are you willing turn this verse into your own prayer? I double-dog dare you.
