I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).
Because I love God, I am willing to live a sacrificial life. Jesus has brought to us the love of God which is our enablement to living this God-approved life. The apostle Paul implores us by the mercies of God, which are derived from God’s eternal love and nature, to present our bodies (as a) living sacrifice, holy (set apart exclusively for God), acceptable to God which is not unreasonable, but is our reasonable service of worship! Paul, through the wisdom and insight of the Holy Scriptures, references these verses from the requirement of the Law where the Lord required the Jewish offeror of a sacrifice not to bring just any animal, but his best—only his best was good enough for God. This is true love and worship. Likewise, the Apostle strongly urges the New Covenant believer to be of the same mind and heart as was his righteous Jewish predecessor. For the Father through Christ Jesus, has given him the immeasurable gift of His Son and now the rational and reasonable thing to do is to present themselves to God holy and acceptable to God, totally prepared to be consumed in service to Him who has bestowed upon on them such generosity and value, rescuing them from eternal death through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Because I love God, I will give Him that of which He is worthy! He is worthy of our sacrificial life and much, much more. Our sacrifice is temporal. Our glory is eternal. Because I love God, I am able to turn the other cheek, to love my enemies, bless those who curse me, do good to those who hate me, and pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me, that l may be a son of our Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew5:44-45). Because we love God, we are able to be patient and kind, to live above arrogance and rudeness, not envying or boasting and not insisting on our own way, nor being resentful when things don’t go the way we wish or want. Father God has so caused His love to dwell within us that we do not rejoice in wrong, but in the truth. And now, through the love of God in Christ, we are able to bear all things, believe all things the Father has spoken, hope all things, and endure all things.
We now know that Jesus has secured for us the never-failing love of God.
With Love,
Pastor Don