Living Sacrifice (Rom 12:1-8)
I almost want to skip today’s devotion. I am having a Greek translation quiz later in the morning. It will be a tough one, and I am not very prepared. But when I revise my scripture memory, which is Rom 12:1-2, I am convicted and compelled to write a short one.
It is really a struggle for me to keep this discipline going. I believe many of us has the same experience and struggle. We want to cultivate a certain good spiritual discipline, but somehow, our flesh simply resist to do it. For some, maybe just keeping up the reading of Masterlife materials; for some, maybe having self-control over your emotion; for some, maybe just to wake up early (not pinpointing anyone). We struggle. Our struggles are real. I won’t deny them. But if we want to growth, we have to be like what Paul said in Rom 12:1, that is to present our bodies as a sacrifice. But the problem is that we are a living sacrifice. We are not a dead one with no feeling and response. We are alive. And we will walk out of the altar if we are unwilling and uncomfortable.
But we are also called to be a holy sacrifice, which means a set apart or chosen sacrifice. We really need to understand and appreciate our identity before we can be a pleasing sacrifice. Set apart, we are not of the world, though we are still living in it, but we can be transformed by renewing our understandng of our core identity (v2). How to do it?
It is by the mercy and grace of God (v1, 3, 6). Not by determination or better time management, it is simply by God’s grace. And another component I found in this passage is the you and I. We are the body of Christ to help one another, to remind one another, to hold each other accountable, using the gifts that God has given to each of us to encourage each other (v4-8). So, please forgive me if I nag you too much, that is the gift from God for your benefits.
I better get back to my translation, before I lost in translation.
