“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.” (v.1)
Through this inspired verse, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the truest and most proper form of worship is not singing a beautiful hymn, nor falling facedown in the presence of God, nor dancing with all our might, nor even sitting in silent awe and adoration – as beautiful and pleasing and important as these are to the LORD! Rather our truest and most God-pleasing act of worship is when those sorts of heartfelt, truthful, Spirit-empowered worship lead us right up to the mercy seat of God to receive grace for our every need (Hebrews 4:16) and we then RESPOND by offering a very particular sacrifice.
That sacrifice is what truly completes our worship and reveals its truthfulness, sincerity, integrity and beauty – or otherwise.
What is that sacrifice? It is the sacrifice of one’s body, offered not as a blood sacrifice, but as a living sacrifice. It is the deliberate and conscious decision to lay down one’s everyday thinking, talking, walking, working, playing, studying, romancing, serving life to the Omniscient LORD, Who is present in every moment, and is either pleased or saddened by what we do and how we use the bodies which have become the Temple of His Presence.
And how will we know what sort of living sacrifice will please the Lord? Firstly, by refusing to be moulded and shaped by the culture of the day, the dominant philosophies of our thinkers, or by the lifestyles of our celebrity heroes, social media influencers, or friends (v.2a). And secondly, by surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s ministry of transforming us (moulding and reshaping us) through the renewing of our minds (v.2b) which He does through our personal reading and studying of the Bible, and also through the teaching, prophecy, encouragement and leadership of our Christian Family, the local church (v.6-8).
Holy Spirit, today I choose to lay down my body as a living sacrifice, to be holy and pleasing to the Lord. Please work in me, moment by moment, to guide me and empower me to do so. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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