This one word makes a HUGE difference …

Have you ever wondered what God really wants from you? Have you ever thought deeply about what would be an appropriate response to God for His saving grace?

The Apostle Paul gives us an answer …

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him,” Romans 12:1.

We often think Paul is speaking of our physical bodies in this verse, but what do our bodies contain? They contain our thoughts, our emotions, our desires, our memories, our ideas, our imagination, our wants, our needs, our anxieties, our worries, our hopes, our fears, our dreams … our bodies contain us!

It’s “us” — every ounce of who we are — that we should offer to God as a living sacrifice.

Speaking on this subject, pastor and seminary president Dr. Stephen Davey once said, “God is not calling you to a martyr’s death, He’s calling you to a martyr’s life.” That’s what being a living sacrifice for God is … dying to self and living to the glory of God.

But there’s a word in that verse we often skip over or give little thought to. It’s the word “holy” …

“… I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice …”

Not only should we offer God the entirety of our lives as a living sacrifice, but as a holy one as well. That means allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into the holy likeness of our Savior so we can live holy lives offered as living sacrifices to God.

Have you offered to God your life as a living sacrifice for Him? Is it a holy life that you’re offering Him, or just a living one?

Scotty