Living Sacrifice

During the Lenten days, it is customary for churches in India to give out small earthen pots with slits on top to collect the sacrificial offerings!   The Bible talks about a 'Living Sacrifice'!  'Living Sacrifice' is a paradox.  In the Old Testament, the sacrifices offered on the Altar were all dead!  The animals did not willingly present themselves—the one offering it brought them and laid them on the Altar.  Also, the animals offered as a sacrifice were all blameless (Leviticus 1:10)!  So what does Paul mean when he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice?  Paul says in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, … that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service".  The true sacrifice accepted by the Lord is a contrite heart and a life dedicated to God, not just for forty days but the whole lifetime!

It is good to understand what being a 'living sacrifice' is since it is an essential requirement in the sight of God!  First of all, it is not a 'dead' sacrifice; it is living, and living for Jesus daily is an act of worship.  An acceptable sacrifice has to be pure and blameless!  When the blood of Jesus washes us, we are made pure!  The Bible tells us that Job was blameless (Job 1:1), which means Job lived a life in which no one could point a finger at him.  The blood of Jesus must wash our lives, and we must live at the highest level of integrity!  Only then can we be acceptable to the Lord!  Every thought, word, and deed has to be pure in the sight of God.  That is a 'living sacrifice'.  It means that I must willingly and continually die for what I want in order to be able to live constantly for what the Lord wants!   Paul says in Gal 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me … who loved me and gave Himself for me".  I am still living, yet not for myself; my body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit.  I am not my own because I have been bought at a price.    If anyone thinks this is easy, they are not being honest!  

My friend, living for Jesus was never intended to be a part-time obligation or to be confined to forty days.  The holiness we bring to the Altar is a decision to live holy and yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  As we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, God makes our lives holy by burning away impurities.  May the Lord help us to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord! 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, please help me to live for You every day of my life.  Amen.

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