Day Six: Living Sacrifices
Romans 12:1,
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.
Not sure if you’ve ever given much thought to the Old Testament act of sacrifice but I think for today’s purposes it may be a good endeavor. It was a bloody mess, one of carnage and intentionality. For the Levites, it was a full-time job with a very prescribed method. You can read all about it in the book of Leviticus. There were burnt offerings, grain offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. In Leviticus 4:3, we see because priests were flawed, and could transfer guilt from an improper offering, there was an individual sin offering. The price for sin and it’s acceptable atonement was blood—a reminder that sin’s consequence was death. Thank goodness he allowed for a substitute.
Now let’s jump to the “Good News” of the New Testament. We know that the perfect substitute, offered by the perfect High Priest, once and for all was the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Can I get an Amen?!!
In Romans 12:1-2 we have a picture of a very different offering. In view of God’s mercy for us, our priestly duty is to offer up our lives as a Living Sacrifice. No more blood, no more death because it was paid for at the cross. What he wants from believers is to live a life holy and pleasing to Him. This is now our true and proper worship. A life of love, submission, and a pursuit of holiness. That is only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit that resides in us. It’s not in choosing the right song, stringing together the perfect prayer, perfect church attendance but rather a life devoted to God. A transformed life.
Reading: Romans 12:1-8, John 1:29, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 3:17