March 22, 2022 -- Romans 12:1-2 -- When you present yourself a living sacrifice

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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 ESV

When is it that Christians “present your bodies as living sacrifices”? The obvious answer might be, when the saints gather and praise God. That word ‘present’ carries the sense of giving an account to an official of the court. This might happen when a man who is released from the court, later, must verify his freedom.

Hmm. I wonder if this present, active tense of the verb to present leads the reader to consider a broader and bigger meaning? When you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, covered by His protection, are challenged in the world and tempted to go down old paths, sinful, familiar habits, it is at that very moment you present your body as a living sacrifice. You will not be conformed to the world. You will give evidence to the one who tempts you that you do, in fact, belong to the LORD in Whom you have your freedom. The Spirit of God will use those instances to transform your mind, to confirm Christ’s work in you, and to bring all the honour and praise to God, through whom you have received mercy. Such mercy is as confirmed by each act of obedience as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, our Master, meet us while we walk in the way, and are longing to reach the Country; so that, following Your light, we may keep the way of righteousness, and never wander away into the horrible darkness of this world's night, while You, the Way, the Truth and the Life, continually shine within us. Amen.
Mozarabic Sacramentary, before 700 A.D. edited from Old English

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