The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Reasonable Service"
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
Why is it reasonable to present our bodies to God for sacrifice and service?
First, our bodies belong to Him. "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (I Corinthians 6:20). The Lord Jesus Christ gave His body to the cross that our bodies might become the temple of His presence and working. Indeed, the term "my body" is a misnomer in the most basic sense. Our earthly members and faculties belong to our Heavenly Father for His purpose and working. It is only reasonable, therefore, to acknowledge their true Owner, especially when considering the cost that redeemed us to God.
Our bodies also do not function properly if we fail to present them to God. We require His presence, leading, and enabling to act in a manner that leads to eternal benefit rather than mere gain in a fleeting earthly lifetime. Consider that what we do in this day can have significance regarding forever as we affirm the truth and reality that our bodies are empowered by "the power of an endless life" (Hebrews 7:16). The smallest act performed by the leading of the Holy Spirit as we present our bodies to Him will eternally sound and redound to the glory of God, the blessing of others, and our personal blessedness. Fleeting fortune or eternal benefit? The choice is ours, based on the choice to "present your bodies."
Failure to acknowledge God's possession of our body leads to blindness and the failure to live in reality. We grope in darkness as the conditions, appearances, and actions of "my body" govern our sensibilities. Conversely, the light of Christ's peace leads us in assurance as we acknowledge His perfectly administered Lordship of that which can only be rightly considered as "His body." We were made and redeemed to serve as stewards rather than owners. Never will we view our bodies rightly in God's peace until we present them to Him for His glory and will.
An often overlooked aspect of our bodies involves the Apostle Paul's stunning revelation: "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin" (Romans 8;10). Unlike our spirits united to the Holy Spirit, the bodies of believers do not yet dwell in the direct presence of God (I Corinthians 15:53-54). Indeed, the challenges we face regarding our bodies do not suggest mere weakness. The issue is rather death, that is, we cannot properly function apart from the risen life of Christ raising our faculties and members to act as God intends. "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11). Proper presentation of our bodies makes possible powerful performance, as energized by the Holy Spirit's administering the resurrection life of Christ therein.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, our bodies exist to reveal and honor their Maker, Redeemer, and Owner. We do not possess brains, hearts, hands, feet, and all the components of our "fearfully and wonderfully made" earthly frame for our own benefit (Psalm 139:14). Believing and acting otherwise involves the most unreasonable service imaginable in an existence wherein "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1). We shall never get far in truth, reality, faith, service, peace, and joy until we loosen the grip on ourselves and our bodies as if we hold the deed upon them. We do not, we never have, and we never will. Yes, for the glory of God, the Psalmist of the Old Testament declared in simplest terms the truth of the Apostle's New Testament declaration regarding our most reasonable service…
"I am Thine."
(Psalm 119:94)
Weekly Memory Verse
I hate vain thoughts, but Thy law do I love.
(Psalm 119:113)
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