We continue with our devotional series “A Few of Our Favorite Things” where you’ll hear from some of our pastors and volunteers as they share how God’s Word has impacted them.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Many of us have often heard the scripture verse that comes after this one which warns us not to conform to the patterns of the world, but to be transformed by renewing our minds. This verse tells us how to begin the process of change and why we should choose to change.
According to The Message translation, we are to take our everyday, ordinary life – our sleeping, eating, going-to work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. God wants every dimension of our beings; our thoughts, our actions, our feelings, and relationship with Him. That’s how we praise, honor and worship Him in a most acceptable way.
Why would people want to offer their whole selves to the Lord? The verse explains why. It’s because of ‘His Mercy’ …because of all that He has done for us…because God sacrificed His one and only son to cover all our sins and bring us back to Himself. The only response to a love so deep and complete is to offer ourselves as a pleasing, living sacrifice to God.
So, I pray that every morning I will say to God, “Here I am, Lord. I’m all yours.”
Diane Schoenfelder
Small Group Leader/First Place Leader
