Holy Habits: Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

This verse from Romans leads us into the fourth of five steps in our Holy Habit series. In our pursuit of living according to the Word and seeking to "...be holy in all we do...," we have been looking at what influences our habits and how God can transform them into holy ones instead of coping ones.

We began with our mind, realizing that we need to take every thought captive unto Christ. Then we went to our heart, looking at God's love for us and how to share that love with others. Following that, we considered the source of all truth -- Jesus and the Word -- and how to live by God's instructions given in the Bible. This week, we drop to our knees, bowing before the throne of God and offering ourselves as living sacrifices before him.

The Message translation takes this verse and offers a perspective that truly describes living a life according to the Word...

Place Your Life Before God

1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The questions I want to put before you this week come straight from Scripture. Spend time reading this passage, in any translation, followed by asking the Lord to give you eyes to see and humility to assess your life according to the Word. Look for the answers to these questions:

1. Can you describe your ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--as truly an offering before God?
2. Are you believing and embracing what God does for you as the best thing you can do for him?
3. Are you so well-adjusted to our culture that you fit into it without even thinking? If so, what needs to change?
4. Is your attention on God?
5. Do you want to be changed from the inside out?

Heavenly Father, you know our hearts and behaviors. You desire holiness for us. Lord, do change us from the inside out and help us yield to your wonderful work in our lives--all for your glory! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Would you like to know more about the Holy Habits series?
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