Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-2

What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? Think about that for a minute. This passage is a relatively familiar one in many circles today, so there's a good chance that you've read it before. What would it mean for your life if you truly lived this verse out?

I think that we try to live our life in compartments. We have the Sunday compartment, where we go to church and think about God. We have the Monday through Friday, eight to five compartment, where we're focused on work. We have the "school night" compartment where we're focused on helping kids with homework but making sure no one stays up too late. And we have the Saturday compartment as a kind of miscellaneous day. As we live, we act differently in each compartment. Our priorities are different. The way we treat others is different. I think that's only naturaly because each of those represents a different role in our lives: church member, worker, family member, etc. But God expects our whole selves. He doesn't want to be in a compartment. He wants it all. Because of His great mercy, He wants you to be His completely, in every aspect of your life.

Even as I write this, I know there are ways that I can better glorify God at work. Ways that I have let too much of me slip through. Ways that I have conformed to the people around me rather than conformed to God.

When you commit to living for God rather than yourself, something else happens--you are better able to understand God's will for your life. You see, sometimes I think we look at our choices, pick the best option, and then convince ourselves it was God's will. "It was God's will that I accept this promotion." "It was God's will that I leave one job to take a higher paying job with better advancement opportunities." I've blogged before about a preacher I know who talked about how we make a decision and try to "apply the gravy of God's will" to that decision. We know what we want to do, and we convince ourselves that's what God wants for us as well. Paul says that it is only through offering yourself as a sacrifice to God, giving up what you want to focus on Him, that you can know God's will.

Being a sacrifice is uncomfortable. If it feels comfortable, ask yourself if you've given anything up for God. If it's hard to commit to being a sacrifice, just remember how much He sacrificed for you.