A Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1 " 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."

The servant Jesus, was the perfect representative of God's character.But it was God's intent for Israel to serve that same purpose.It is also something that God wants to accomplish through Christians today. People should be able to look at a Christian's life and see what God is really like.Christians should share the Gospel with the way they live their life, as well as with the words of their life. Christians should focus on living in a way that glorifies God at all times as well as use every opportunity to tell a dying world the good news of salvation. Our lives should tell the truth about God, and our words should communicate God's truth. This will at times require us to put aside our thoughts ,opinions, Ideals, likes,dislikes and desires, that a lost soul might experience the love of God through us.

Sometimes it might seem useless, the complaint that "I have labored to no purpose" could have crossed Jesus' mind as he was nailed to the cross, and those who watched this event, may have thought His mission was coming to an end and his life a failure. But when Jesus died, He knew his death was not to be his end. Three days later, when he rose from the dead, he proved that He is the  Son of God and ultimately convinced His disciples that his death served God's purpose.We too, today might voice these same concerns,wondering if we are laboring in vain, as it might sometimes seems when we talk about Jesus to an unbelieving world, our words seeming to fall on deaf ears. But God wants us to know, even though it seems to be in vain, to  keep on being a living sacrifice for him, keep on laying down our will that His will be done, keep on telling the story of salvation, and it will eventually bear spiritual fruit.  For his word will not come back void,it will do just what it says.

God wants to restore His relationship with all people, a relationship broken by sin and compounded by people's rebellion against him.God doesn't intend to cut off his creation, Jesus death, burial and resurrection provides a way for fallen man to be reconciled to a Holy God.Our mission in life, is to share the truth about God with others, so that they know what they have to do to have a right relationship with God.God's servants are to be the light that penetrates spiritual darkness and will leads others to Jesus.It is through dedication ,self denial, and commitment to the truth in this mission , which will glorify God as we bear fruit, and fruit that shall last.