I urge you therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not conform to this
century, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that
prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
God is interested in us bringing our body and making it available to Him. When
says to present our bodies, uses what the Greeks call the aorist tense. That
It means it's something that is done once and for all; it's not something we do over and over again.
It may be surprising that God wants our bodies. Why does he want my body? Hardly.
I can't stand it myself, sometimes! But God says: Bring your body. Paul has been talking
on the body throughout this section of Romans.
It tells us that the body is something that always opposes what pleases God and always
opposes what God wants. Our body is the source of temptation. May God want this
It's amazing! And yet, it does it.
Some of us may want to say: Lord, why do you want this body?
Let me tell you something about it! He has a bad heart, Lord. He has a dirty mind.
regenerated. I have problems with this body. It is always making me stumble. My spirit
It is great, and I adore you with all my heart, but the body, Lord, NO! But the Lord says: Bring
your body. I know everything. I know more about it than you.
And that is the beautiful and attractive thing about this verse. It is not telling us that we have to
cleanse us and straighten out our lives in every way and become perfect before we
we can offer ourselves to God.
Paul's word is, bring your bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Bring it, with all
your problems, with all the temptations and everything, bring it as it is! I don't know how that makes you feel
that, but that encourages me a lot.
All religions in the world tell us that we have to straighten out somehow
our lives first, and then offer them to God. God never speaks that way. He tells you:
You come to me as you are. I will establish a personal relationship with you, I am the answer.
to your problems. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will heal you.”
I will give rest.” Matthew 11:28
Pastor Martin Wolf
