Deep down inside, most everybody wants to be radically transformed. We all know we need to be made new. We know that we’ll never be truly happy until you we are changing and growing and morphing into a better version of ourselves.
But how? It all starts with presenting our bodies as living sacrifices as Romans 12:1 teaches.
“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).
So, practically speaking, just how do we make ourselves living sacrifices?
Think about the parts of your body. You give them to Jesus. Every day. Many times a day. As a living sacrifice.
Think about the Jewish prayer shawl, the tallit. On each corner is the fringe, the tzitzit. The numerical value of the word is 600. It has 5 knots (five knots standing for the first five books of the Bible, the Torah) and 8 strands. 600 + 5 + 8 = 613, the number of commands in the OT. So, the tzitzit is to remind the Jewish people to keep all God’s commands, to be holy, to present themselves to God.
You can think of the 8 stands on the tzitzit this way: mind, eyes, ears, mouth, hands, heart, sexuality, and feet – the members of your body.
What we choose to do with these bodies of ours makes a huge difference. We have a choice. We can use these bodies of ours to please God. Or not.
So, when we are told in Romans 12:1 to present our bodies as living sacrifices and in Romans 6:13 to present the members of our bodies to God, we can present the members of our body in the form of a prayer.
“God, I’m Yours today. Here’s my mind. I want to think what You want me to think. Here are my eyes. I want to see what you want me to see. Here are my ears. I want to hear with You want me to hear. Here is my mouth. I want to say what You want me to say. Here are my heart, hands, sexuality, and feet. I will be who You want me to be with this body You have given to me.”
How often do we do this? Well, because we are living sacrifices, we can crawl off the altar.
Today we can say, “My hands are Yours” but tomorrow we can say, “My hands are mine!” Yesterday we said, “My mind is Yours” but today we say, “My mind is mine!” Tomorrow we will say, “My heart – my affections – are Yours” but the day after tomorrow we’ll say, “My heart – my affections – are mine!” And on and on it goes.
God wants us to present every area of our lives to Him every day all day! We do it as many times as necessary.
We are all… all in! Everyone Live New, Everyday!
That is what leads to radical transformation.
