Deep and WideSample

Life to Death to Life

I attended Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Saskatchewan, as an undergrad. We had chapel every Wednesday. Of all the chapel services I attended over the years, I really only remember one.

Four students carried out a table with a person lying on it. The person was tied up. Like, really tied up. Bound hands and feet with several loops of rope around his body, holding him to the table. He began to speak about being a living sacrifice to God.

It was a strange sight but obviously memorable. His words and actions (of being tied up to the table) emphasized what was meant by offering ourselves as a sacrifice.

Most of us probably struggle with the ideas behind today’s text, behind the idea of sacrifice. That idea most likely conjures up thoughts of going without or giving something away. Reasonable ideas.

However, two ideas have stuck with me since seeing that speaker tied to the table: choice and control.

We have to choose to offer a sacrifice. Even in ancient Israel, the person offering the sacrifice had to choose which animal would be taken. It was conscious and deliberate. Sacrifice does not simply happen. It is not an automatic. This is the reason that Paul “urges” us to offer this sacrifice.

Once we have chosen to offer that sacrifice, we are ceding control. What has been offered is no longer ours. What happens to that sacrifice has nothing to do with us; it is completely outside of our control and even input.

So, men, if we offer our own bodies as a sacrifice, we are choosing to allow God control over ourselves. It is not a choice that should be made lightly, for the consequences are dramatic. But we are urged to do so in response to God’s incredible and abundant mercy. It is our appropriate response.

Prayer: Merciful God, thank You for the grace and patience You have shown me in bringing me into Your family. I want to offer You my body as a sacrifice. I am choosing to allow You control. Amen.

Reflection: What area of your life would be most impacted if you offered God control of your body?