Romans 12:1 says, “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship” (TPT).
The question – “What should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies?”
The answer – “To surrender yourselves to God to be His sacred, living sacrifices.”
End of devotion. Just kidding.
God is merciful. How do you properly respond to His mercy? We surrender our lives to Him — to be a living sacrifice. I like to say it this way: Live for Jesus. That’s the response. We live for Jesus. This my friends is actual worship — when we take all that we are and we pour it out for Him. But how do you do this?
The Bible says that all that we do and all that we say should glorify God. This is part of it. Living for Jesus means that He guides our thoughts (Philippians 4:8), which results in our words and deeds. Our words and deeds are an overflow of our focus. If He guides our thoughts, the overflow of words and of deeds glorifies Him (Colossians 3:17). When I think about living for Jesus, the first thing that comes to mind is love. Love one another (John 13:34). If we love God, we will love people. By loving people, we are overflowing that love we received from God to all we know (1 John 4:19). This is how people know we are His disciples (John 13:35). Ephesians 5:2 says it this way: “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (ESV).
Consider your proper response today. Pray for direction and discernment. Ask God to cleanse your heart and help you to love those most difficult to love. As you live this out — focusing your thoughts and loving like Jesus, look at the results. I love what this verse says happens when we then live holy and pleasing lives. We experience ALL that delights God’s heart. Can you imagine? What delights God’s heart will be what we experience. I cannot pretend to understand what this will mean for us, but I know it will cause us awe and wonder. There is something marvelous about being in perfect harmony with our Father. I pray you experience this beautiful and most precious relationship today and every day
Tania Gutekunst 