Thursday, November 11, 2004

romans 12:1

"i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, HOly, acceptable to the Lord, which is your reasonable service."

i'm most definitely not perfect. i have faults and failures in my life like anyone, however, with all my downfalls and shortcomings, i can't help but pursue and speak of a life more purposeful and profound than the one many christians and 'lost folks' are living. ...and although i've yet to reach this completely 'alien' lifestyle... i recognize that the desire and willingness to attain this goal are just as alien as if i were living it out.

so... the life of a Christian according to romans 12:1->

first of all, sacrifice means this:
"hence to destroy, surrender, or suffer;
to be lost, for the sake of obtaining something;
to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object or duty;
to devote, with loss or suffering"

in romans, Paul does not merely suggest that we give up a few minor details of our lives, but commands that we must give our entire beings and everything else over to death in order to fulfill not an amazing or extraordinary act, but the only sensible one.

entirity has a definition as well:
"in an entire manner;
wholly;
completely;
fully."

If we live out the 'entirity' of romans 12:1... there should be no trace left of our former selves...it should have all been consumed in the flames of refinement.

there are many of us who are willing to give up a meal here, a dollar there, maybe an hour at times somewhere else... but how many of us give (or are even somewhat willing to give) our entire selves over to Christ to do with as He sees fit?

be reassured, christian, that the more we pursue this Christ, the stranger we will become to the world... the mere act of pursuing something you can't see nor completely understand seems foreign and crazy to the world... it's illogical to them... and the more we begin to act like Him, think like Him, and speak like Him... the more of a difference they'll see in our lives... but it begins with obedience... to crawl up on that altar... to become a living sacrifice... HOLY and acceptable to the Lord...

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