Romans 12:1 “I appeal to, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Listen to some provocative thoughts from Tim Keller on this powerful word:
“To be “at God’s disposal” fully means: a) actively, to be willing to obey God in anything he says in any area of life, and b) passively, to be willing to thank God for anything he sends in any area of life.
Another way Paul gets across the idea of totality or entirety is by urging them to offer our bodies. This was probably startling to Graeco-Roman readers, who were brought up to believe that the body was negative and bad, and that spirituality was to cultivate the mind and soul. But Paul is saying that God does not just want a purely inward and abstract worship, but a practical and total one. He wants us to give him everything that we do.
“Paul made it plain, in his exposure of human depravity in 3:13ff, that it reveals itself through our bodies, in tongues which practice deceit and lips which spread poison, in mouths which are full of cursing and bitterness, in feet which are swift to shed blood, and in eyes which look away from God. Conversely, Christian sanctity shows itself in the deeds of the body. So we are to offer different parts of our bodies… to God as ‘instruments of righteousness’ (6:13,16,19). Then our feet will walk in his paths, our lips will speak the truth and spread the gospel, our tongues will bring healing, our hands will lift up those who have fallen… our arms will embrace the lonely and the unloved, our ears will listen to the cries of the distressed, and our eyes will look humbly and patiently towards God.”
– John Stott, Romans
The word “living” may mean that the sacrifice is a constant thing. The word sacrifice actually means “to kill.” That makes it a “living killing!” It means that we have to continually renew our position as wholly obedient and at God’s disposal.”
From Tim Keller, Leader’s Guide for Romans Bible Study
![A Prayer about Pausing to Remember God’s Wondrous Works
Will you pause with me to remember God’s wondrous works?
On your wondrous works, I will meditate. Psalm 145:5
Wondrously Working Lord,
How often do we pause,
do we really chew on,
the millions of ways,
seen and unseen,
you work in this world,
in our neighborhood,
in our lives?
For a few moments,
let’s consider your wondrous works:
You’ve drawn us to yourself
even when we were wandering around like the spiritual zombies we were.
You’ve loved us every day, all the time,
even when we hated you.
You’ve given us new life
even when we deserved certain death,
You’ve kept your promises to us
even when we broke every promise we ever made to you,
You’ve shown us limitless patience
even when we threw tantrums of impatience with you.
You’ve lavished us with the gifts we needed
even when we demanded the things we wanted when we wanted them.
[List some of the specific wondrous works God has done in your life].
Oh, Lord, may we break our eyes away
from the seductive screen
and look out, look up, look in,
to see your stunning beauty and your baffling kindness!
In Jesus’ gracious name. Amen.
Read Psalm 145.
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