Tag: living sacrifice

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Joshua Devotionals

Forgetting the “therefore”

Bible

Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth. (Joshua 24:14)

Therefore.

When I first read verse 14 this morning, I’ll admit my first focus was on worshiping God in sincerity and truth, and thinking about what that meant.

But as I read it again, the word “therefore” leapt to my eye.

What was the “therefore” there for?

Joshua had been reminding the Israelites of God’s goodness and mercy towards them.

And only after having done so, did he then say, “Therefore, fear him, worshiping him in sincerity and truth.”

It reminded me of another “therefore” in the Bible.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. (Romans 12:1)

It’s so easy to start with God’s commands to give our all to him. To put aside the idols and sin in our lives and to serve and worship him with all our heart, soul, and mind.

But let’s not skip over the “therefore.”

Rather, let us always start with these two truths:

Our God is so good to us.

And he has shown us so much mercy and grace.

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Titus Devotionals

True worship

He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. (Titus 2:14)

I’ve been thinking the last few days about what people mean when they say, “I love to worship.”

For that matter, what do I mean?

I think for many people, it means, “I feel good when I sing songs to God. I sense his love. I feel so close to him.”

I confess, it’s easy for me to think of worship this way.

But is that all worship is?

Worship recognizes that by his great mercy, Jesus went to the cross for our sins. He did so to cleanse us of our sin and make us his own people, a people eager to do good works, serving him.

We are his now. We belong to him.

And so worshiping God doesn’t just mean singing love songs.

It’s living a life that says, “My life is completely yours. My money. My time. I offer every aspect of my life to you.”

Paul recognized that in Romans 11-12.

Paul sang a song, but it’s notable that it wasn’t just a love song. It was a song which recognized that all things in this world are from God, through him, and to him, and that all glory belongs to him. (Romans 11:36).

And then Paul defines true worship:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. (Romans 12:1)

When you say that you love to worship, is that what you mean?

Father, help me to love worship. To joyfully offer you all I am and all I have to you, holding nothing back.

It’s only right that I worship you by offering myself to you. For you created me and by your will, I was created and exist (Revelation 4:11).

From you, and through you, and to you are all things. So not just in my songs, but in every aspect of my life, be glorified. In Jesus’ name amen.

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John Devotionals

The fragrance of worship

John

Last Sunday, I was speaking in my church about being a living sacrifice.

One of the things I pointed out was that in the Old Testament, when sacrifices were made to God, they were described as a pleasing aroma to him.

In the same way, all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions are to be a pleasing aroma to God. That’s what a living sacrifice is.

Here in this passage, we see an example of this. Mary poured out perfume on Jesus’ feet and its fragrance filled the room.

I think it’s safe to say that her action was a pleasing aroma of worship to God.

Contrast that with Judas, who though he claimed to care for the poor, nevertheless thought only of himself.

As Paul would have put it, Judas’ “love” was filled with hypocrisy (Romans 12:9).

As such, it was a stench before God, and that stench filled the room as much as Mary’s perfume did.

Let us not be like Judas, but like Mary.

May our thoughts, our words, our actions, and our very lives be a pleasing aroma that rises up to God and fills this entire world.

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Romans

A living sacrifice

Romans

This is perhaps one of the more famous passages in scripture. Paul writes,

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. (Romans 12:1)

It’s always good to look back at what was said previously whenever you see the word “therefore.” And as we saw, Paul had just written,

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:36)

Think about that phrase “all things” for a minute.

Among those “things” are us. We were created from his mind and by his plan. We were created through his power.

We were created for him, and ultimately, we will return to him, held accountable for how we lived our lives.

So many people scream, “It’s my life. It’s my right to live however I want to.”

That’s only half true. God has indeed given us free will. So in that sense, we have the right to live as we please.

But it is not really our life. We were created by God, by his power, and for him.

And it is with that in mind, Paul says that we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him. He calls it our spiritual service of worship to God.

The King James version puts it, “your reasonable service.”

In other words, it only makes sense that since we were created by God and for him, that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

What does that mean though? Does that mean we are to die for him?

While some may be called to become martyrs for Christ, Paul doesn’t mean this. He says we are to be “living” sacrifices.

I like to use the analogy of marriage when thinking of a living sacrifice.

In a marriage, the husband and wife offer themselves to each other.

And while I’m sure, for example, my wife would be happy to know that I am willing to die for her, she would much prefer that I live for her. That I would set apart myself for her, and give myself to no other woman.

More, she would like to know that I love her so much that I want to please her and find joy in pleasing her.

I, of course, desire the same thing from my wife. And when husbands and wives live as living sacrifices toward each other, marriage works well.

In the same way, while God is happy to know that we’re willing to die for him, he would much rather that we live for him. That each day, we would set apart ourselves (be holy) for him.

And he wants us to love him so much, that we delight in pleasing him.

Why would we do these things? Because of his mercies toward us.

He himself became a man and laid down his life for us as a sacrifice. While we were yet sinners, our backs set against him, and going our own way, Christ loved us enough to die for us that we might be reconciled to him.

And now that we know the love of God in our lives, it’s only natural that we respond with that same kind of love and offer ourselves to him, living lives that are pleasing to him.

That’s a living sacrifice.

How about you? Are you a living sacrifice?

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Psalms

True worship

sheep and shepherd worship

Psalm 100, above all, is a song of worship.

It starts out with a call to worship, as the psalmist sings,

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  (Psalm 100:1-2)

It then gives us the basis for our worship, reflecting on who God is, who we are, and what our relationship with him is.

Who is God?  He is the LORD.  Or more literally “Yahweh.”  Or perhaps even more literally, “I AM.”

That is, the one who is, who was, and who is to come.  The everlasting one.

And this God is our creator.

Who are we?  What’s our relationship with him?

We are His.  We belong to him.

Why?  As the NASB puts it, it is God who made us, and not we ourselves.  Because God is our creator, we rightfully belong to him.  So we are his people.  And we are his sheep.

As his sheep, what should we do?

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  (4)

Jim Elliot, in the book Shadow of the Almighty, said something about this passage that really struck me.  He said,

What are sheep doing going into the gate?  What is their purpose inside those courts?  To bleat melodies and enjoy the company of the flock?

No.  Those sheep were destined for the altar.  Their pasture feeding had been for one purpose, to test them and fatten them for bloody sacrifice.

Give Him thanks, then, that you have been counted worthy of His altars.  Enter into the work with praise…

Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire.  I would not save it, for it is not mine to save.

Have it, Lord, have it all.  Pour out my life as an oblation for the world.  Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar.

I think Eliott grasped what the apostle Paul was saying, when Paul wrote,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  (Romans 12:1)

Indeed, he did offer his very blood for the sake of Christ and his gospel, spilling it that the Auca Indians might be saved.

You see worship is much more than just singing songs to God.  It’s being a living sacrifice for him.  It’s being set apart for his purposes, and not your own.  It’s making your purpose in life to please him.  That is true worship.

It can be costly.  But there is a joy that comes from offering your all to him.  For as the psalmist wrote,

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.  (Psalm 100:5)

If we do not believe these things, then it becomes difficult to lay down our lives for Him.

But if we do believe that he truly is good, that he’s looking out for our best, that he loves us, and that he is faithful, then it becomes only natural to lay down our lives for him.

How about you?  Do you believe these things?  If so, are you living a life of true worship?