Sacrifice for Him
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. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
The purpose of sacrifices in the old testament was to purify. Make the unclean become clean. Jesus’ sacrifice took our sins away from us so we can come to God, receive forgiveness and be purified.
Paul was urging the Romans to offer their body as a living sacrifice. Bringing their bodies to the altar.
What does this mean ?
The purpose of sacrifices was to purify and this purpose has not changed until now from my understanding. Only the blood of Jesus can purify us from our sins but we still need to bring our bodies to the altar.
When we came to Christ and received forgiveness, God brought us in the Kingdom of his Son Jesus. We were born again! What a great news!
However, once we are born again, we cannot remain as babies. We have to grow!
And on our journey with the Lord we will need to bring the hidden issues of our hearts to the Lord so he can purify our hearts. We will need to come to the altar.
No focus on sin
It’s not about focusing on what’s wrong in our lives! I don’t talk about chasing every negative aspect of our lives, certainly not.
But the spirit of God as we grow will enlighten some areas in our lives which we will need to expose to the blood of Jesus so those areas could be purified.
This process could be painful only if we want to hold on those areas. But if we are willing to give them up to the Lord for the sake of growth and a better relationship with the Lord, there will be far less pain.
Abraham and Isaac
The example of Abraham is a great one. Abraham was asked by the Lord to give the son he loved. And Abraham was willing to do it! He brought at the altar the son he loved and was going to offer him to God as a sacrifice.
That may seem cruel if you don’t understand the scripture with the right spirit. But God was actually purifying Abraham and taking him to a new revelation of his love.
Purifying because God was removing from Abraham’s heart every root of selfish love which could hinder his relationship with God. This is so powerful! The Lord did not force Abraham to give his son, he just asked him to do so.
Revelation because Abraham knew that he loved God more than anything else and this is just pure freedom. When you know that nothing can hinder your relationship with God, you are on the right path for a successful life in every area.
Sometimes, you may think you love God is a certain way but a request from Him would reveal if this love that you think you have is from the mouth or from the heart.
No pressure
Praise the Lord because he does not force us to live as a living sacrifice. But he urges us to do so for our benefit.
He shows us some areas in our lives that we need to give to him such as strong passions in every areas (sport, music, children, hobby, etc..) because he does not want us to be dominated by those things.
Is He showing you right now something in your heart that you should hand him ?
He will wait until you are ready but you need to understand that our Heavenly Father is love and He wants above anything else for us to be free from bondage.
By bringing at the altar the things that He shows you, you will be purified from them.
And the love of God will fill the gap. You will be lighter, freer and you will praise the Lord more than before!
Take care today my friend.
guiYome 🙂
A son of the Most High
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