Becoming a Living Sacrifice

Do not conform any longer to the pattern if this world. . .
ROMANS 12:2

WHEN PAUL WROTE to the Romans, he spoke of Sacrifice something that both Jew and Gentiles understood clearly. Though the readers were already familiar with sacrifices, Paul introduces a new and radical idea. Present our bodies as living sacrifices.
     Your body---not a dead hunk of meat purchased in the market is what he says should be given to God. Surprisingly, the Bible says a great deal about the human body. But what does it mean to present your body as a living sacrifice? The problem with living sacrifice us that they keep crawling off the altar, so whatever offering you make has to be done every day. Daily you must yield control of your life to Him who has redeemed you--- control over what your eye beholds, what you think about, what your hands touch, where your feet take you.
     God made all the parts of your human body, and He pronounced them good. Our reasonable response to what God has done, according to Paul, is act of the will. Your body is God's gift to you, and giving it back to Him is the highest form of worship and the greatest possible sacrifice. Why is this difficult for us?
     Sacrifice placed on altar s were consumed by fire. Living sacrifice in the same way, sometimes feel the consuming fire that purifies and conforms them to His image. Sadly, some of these living sacrifices prefer to crawl back into their caves of darkness and lust.
      Does God ask too much? Or do we simply give too little? God"s great mercies deserve our reasonable service.