Living Sacrifice part 4
To me, the key word in the phrase "living sacrifice" is LIVING. I know it seems too simple to be true, but the point of life... is living. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. We seem so preoccupied with the afterlife. To the point that we miss out on the life we've been given. Look at 1 John 4:9, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." The point is life. A life of love. That we live through Him. Because He IS love. You can't have a life of love without love in it. Which means you can't have a life of love without God in it. We live through Him because He lives through us. Who we really are is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. Presenting ourselves--our bodies--to the Lord as a living sacrifice simply means giving up control. Letting Jesus take the wheel. If we can stop trying to do it all ourselves and invite God (LOVE) into our lives we will be able to rest. And, as always, let me just say that rest is not inactivity. It is Holy Spirit directed activity. And, as always, let me just say that the Holy Spirit only ever directs us to do one thing: Love one another as Jesus loves us. That's the New Commandment for the New Man. Receive and release the love of God. Which could also be put as, "Receive and release the life of God." Present yourself to Him so that He can live His own abudant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love in you, and through you, and as you. The sacrifice is really just saying, "Here I am, Lord. Use me." Which really isn't much of a sacrifice at all, if I can be perfectly honest. Because our heavenly Father wants nothing but the best for us. Everything He has ordained for us will come to us in His perfect timing if we just stop trying so hard to get it. It's like the idea of a lifeguard who has to wait until the drowning person stops struggling. The more you struggle, the harder you make things for yourself. When, instead, you can just let go and let God. You can present your life to God and let HIM take you where HE wants you to go. It's not us trying (and failing) to follow in His foot steps. It's Him making His own foot steps in our feet. It's Him taking the sacrifice of our lives, and making something beautiful out of it. Taking the clay and molding it into what HE knows it should be. We try to make ourselves fit into what we think we should be. Or what the world thinks we should be. We try to conform. When really it's all about Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Two things here: There's only ONE will of God. And that one will is good, acceptable, and perfect. He's not double (or triple) minded. He knows the thoughts that He thinks toward you. Thoughts of peace and not evil. And the second thing: We have BEEN transformed, so being conformed to the world would be going backwards. We need to BE transformed into what we have BEEN transformed into. By the renewing of our mind. By the presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice. So that we can be who we really are by letting Jesus be who He really is in us!