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
God’s mercy, having redeemed us from the world, now demands a response – a response of nothing less than the offering of ourselves entirely to the Lord. We are only able to do this by surrendering ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us; He transforms our minds, wills, and bodies from conforming to the world to conforming to the image of Christ. Paul describes this process of transformation as our “spiritual act of worship,” beginning with the renewal of our mind: Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
When our minds are washed and renewed by the Word and cleansed of the effects of world thinking, we will then be able to live according to God’s will. As Christians we pray: thy will by done, thy kingdom come. We seek to know and to obey God’s will, but the world view has confused our thinking and ability to test and approve what God’s will is. God, who created our mind for His use, desires that we have the mind of Christ because what we think is reflected in our actions. Another translation of spiritual act of worship is “reasonable service,” which implies that it is reasonable for us to expect to respond to God’s mercy by offering our lives back to Him in gratitude.
Every morning and every evening the Israelites offered sacrifices as an act of worship to the Lord. I try to remember to consciously offer myself as a sacrifice to the Lord when I first awaken and just before I go to bed at night. It is my way of remembering God’s mercy and love and responding by giving Him back the very life He has given to me.
Heavenly Father,
I present myself to You as a living sacrifice to worship You. I surrender to Your Holy Spirit at work in me and pray that my mind will be renewed and that I will know Your perfect will.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
