A Living Sacrifice
Posted by Dion Todd June 4th, 2023 3,532 Views 0 Comments
A Living Sacrifice from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.
Various sacrifices were required under the old covenant. Some of the sacrifices helped feed the priests and those who worked at the temple, but a burnt offering was placed on the altar and completely consumed by fire. You can read about these in the book of Leviticus.
Under the new covenant, the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ paid for our sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. There is no earning salvation. It is a gift from God, but gifts have to be accepted, and they can also be rejected.
(Romans 10:9 NKJV) ...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
(Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Salvation is a done deal for believers, and heaven awaits the faithful. Yet, this is only the beginning, the tip of the iceberg. If you want more, you will have to give Him more. It will cost you. The Apostle Paul wrote it like this:
(Romans 12:1 ESV) 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.
Giving yourself as a living sacrifice means that your body and all it contains are given to Him, placed on His altar, and burned in holy fire. It doesn't kill you, but His fire will burn anything that is not holy out of you, and you have to remain there because you belong to Him now.
The only holiness you bring to His altar is your decision to give yourself completely to Him, but in doing so, He will change you from the inside out. We must get away from the mindset that preachers, priests, and those in ministry are supposed to be 100% committed, but everyone else can be 90, 60, 30, or 1%. No, this call includes you.
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were thrown into a raging furnace, only the ropes that bound them were burned away. They came out not even smelling of smoke (Daniel 3:23).
If you want to go free from bondage, this is how. The Apostle Paul continues on:
(Romans 12:2 ESV) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
When you are God's property and not your own, when you do what He wants instead of what you want, your mind begins thinking like Him. His thoughts become your thoughts. A committed life means you can discern God's will.
This is life-changing. While so many drift through life in confusion and doubt, commitment to God brings clarity and direction. It provides a sure foundation. Your life is built on the Rock and not on the sand. When the storms of life hit, you will not be moved.
Total commitment brings liberty. You are no longer your own but a bondservant of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:6). You pray, do what He tells you, and let Him worry about the details. Provision comes within the vision, and the Lord takes full responsibility for the life totally committed to Him. Surrendering to Him, giving Him the reigns, and letting Him drive is one of the smartest decisions you can make.
It is also exciting. He often thinks a lot bigger than we do. Consider how Moses went from being a humble shepherd in the wilderness to becoming the most powerful man on Earth. And Enoch, who walked so closely with the Lord that he was taken to heaven without dying.
(Hebrews 11:5 NKJV) By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
There have probably been many more people like Enoch who were taken to heaven over the centuries that we don't know about. If the Bible records an event, and God does not clearly state, "I'll never do that again," as He did after the flood, then it can still happen today.
I have read testimonies of missionaries who walked on water to get to a remote village. Heidi Baker often sees food multiplied in Mozambique, where a box of fried chicken can feed a village. I have seen manna appear in a missionaries Bible and we had communion with it. The Apostle Paul said he knew a man that was taken to heaven. It was quite possibly him:
(2 Corinthians 12:2 NKJV) I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
I cannot recount how many times the Lord has given us insight into what was happening behind the scenes. Because when you work for Him, He tells you what you need to know. I am not only talking about it while I have been in ministry. Twenty years ago, He would expose people trying to deceive us while working on computers. A Spirit-led life is for everyone, and it's a wonderful life. Jesus said His sheep would hear His voice and follow Him:
(John 10:3–4 NKJV) ...the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
It's not a feeling or a doing. Some people follow their feelings, while others want a to-do list. This is neither because if you have to figure it out yourself, you miss the point. For example, I am bringing this message today, regardless of how I feel about it. "Oh, people will think you're crazy..." Who cares? It's what He gave me to do... He didn't ask how I felt. Also, you can get too busy making sandwiches no one ordered, like Martha, when you should be sitting and listening for directions like Mary.
There is so much more than being saved and waiting on Jesus to come get us. When you offer yourself as a living sacrifice, and everything you have is His, you can live a life like you read about in the Bible because that's how they lived. Oh yes, those things you read about in the book of Acts still happen today, but not without total commitment.
(Matthew 16:24–25 NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
You can pray this with me if you like:
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want what You have! Please open my mind to understand and see through Your eyes. Light a fire within me. I offer myself to You as a living sacrifice. I am Yours, Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!