Our devotion is by SIBUSISO ZUNGU who serves three congregations in Diepkloof.
-----------------------------
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. 2 Do not conform any longer 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. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans12:1-5
The sacrifice that Paul is referring to, is the same sacrifice used in the Old Testament: it was supposed to be spotless and blameless. As Christians today we are being purified by the precious blood of Jesus to be able to serve in God's missionary calling.
Now Paul encourages us to allow our old self to die and resurrect with Christ as new creation. Our service therefore is a service of thanksgiving, in every aspect giving glory to God. The world cannot only hear about God from word of mouth but by our acts of kindness even to our worst enemies as Christ instructed us (Mt5:43-48)
Beloved we should put our conduct into harmony with the new life found in Christ (Rom6:4). That is the basic rule in Paul's ethics, and it that which is further unfolded in the first two verses of chapter 12.
Paul deals with the practical implications of what he said in previous chapters. But until we are moved by the majesty of God, as Paul has been, we will not be able to understand and live out the consequences of his love for us.
Because of what God has done for us, the best we can give him is ourselves, by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices. The word 'body' in this context represents far more than our belongings or treasures. It means the totality of our life, plans and activities. The offering of ourselves is a spiritual act of worship that we can give to God.
Through our bodies we express what we think, what we have and how we live. Hence, Paul refers to this sacrifice as the renewing of your mind (12:2). This renewal is an internal process, a reorientation of our world view as we seek to live the way Christ lived and to think as he thought. Nothing is left behind to conform to the pattern of this world.
Finally: we are called to live a transformed life in the church and community. We are called to live side by side. However, the first thing we must watch out for is pride (Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall). We are equal before God, no individual or group or class or race can claim to be better than other. We are saved by grace through faith. Pride undermines the unity of the church. We are not called to _make_ unity instead we are called to _keep_ unity as parts of one body.
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
