A Lifestyle of Sacrifice

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.
Romans 12:1

I'd like to spend the next couple weeks looking at the Core Scripture Verses guiding the theme for Summit 2- The Journey: Every Step is Praise. I would love to hear from you about what each verse means to you.

For me, this verse is the definition of Worship. In the Jewish culture, sacrifices were their means of being justified before God. After the death of Jesus, that all changed as He was the atoning sacrifice for everyone. But still, the idea of a sacrifice was fresh in the culture of that day's mind, even after Jesus' death. So Paul says- give your entire body, your whole life as a sacrifice. Lift it up to God and say, I am Yours. Take me and use me as You see fit.

This concept goes against our Western Culture mindset though, doesn't it? We are seemingly destined to be self-absorbed, self-centered, self---everything! But to live a life of worship, we have to die to our selfish desires and offer up that which costs us the most- our very lives...our will...our plans...our dreams for the future...our selves. 

Pastor Matt shared this past Sunday the story of David being offered items for a sacrificial offering in 1 Chronicles 21. Essentially, David needed to offer a sacrifice to God to atone for something he had done wrong. A man named Ornan offered to give David all he needed for the sacrifice free of charge. 

David said, "No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing." 

For a sacrifice to truly be a sacrifice, it has to cost us something. 

It costs me nothing to sing the words during corporate worship while my mind drifts to what's for lunch.

It costs me nothing to tell someone I will be praying for them and then dismiss or forget the idea completely.

It costs me nothing to keep my Bible stored in my car for when I will need it on Sunday morning, but not bother to turn it's life giving pages during the week. 

It costs me nothing to quickly down my communion juice and bread while holding a grudge against a neighbor or not thinking about Jesus and His sacrifice for me. 

It costs me nothing (literally and figuratively) if I decide to not give my tithe because I want to buy something else in it's place...something that will surely see rot and decay in my lifetime. 

It costs me nothing to put on a happy face at church on Sunday and automatically morph into the ideal wife and mother, but then go around the rest of the week mistreating those who I cherish the most. 

Sacrificing anything for God is serious business. God deserves a personal and full response to His glory and authority in our lives. If our lives are truly lives of worship, they will also be lives of sacrifice. A lifestyle of sacrifice defines our worship, our giving, our relationships, our respect for spiritual disciplines, and our submission to those in authority over us. It does cost us to align our plans with God's plans. It takes commitment and trust to say to God, "I surrender!" It hurts to ask Him to break away the sin and strongholds that have captured you...it hurts A LOT! But to truly live lives of worship, those are the things that must happen. 


But in our life now and most definitely in the life to come, THE SACRIFICE WE MAKE NOW IS SO WORTH IT! 

So today, I urge YOU, as we have all seen the way that God has shown us His love and mercy, to respond with a life of sacrifice...your entire life one long response to His greatness. This is what true worship is all about.