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A “Reasonable Service”
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
So far, we have seen that God is a God of love and grace, and He desires to have a special relationship with us, one that none of the other creatures here on earth can enjoy. At the center of that relationship stand the Cross and the plan of salvation, because—of all the reasons we have to love God—the Cross remains by far the best one.
How does 1 John 4:10—“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”—capture the essence of what it means to love God?
When you love someone, words of praise and appreciation are natural. When we, as Christians, give our hearts to the Lord, we get the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He fills the Christian with a deep sense of gratitude or appreciation. From such appreciation there will arise a heart filled with praise and adoration of God.
Yet, there is an important point that many folk forget. True praise for God involves the whole being. That is, we praise God not only on a spiritual, emotional, and mental level but with our physical bodies too. It is the application of healthful habits in life that give us clarity of mind, the balance to the whole.
Scientists have uncovered fascinating physical changes in the brain that follow habitual practices. For instance, drugs induce changes in the brain that become firmly entrenched and make for powerful addictions. Degeneration in our blood vessels likewise results in impaired brain functioning. A disease like Alzheimer’s is a result of destruction of brain cells. Clearly, we are dependent on our physical state to enjoy clear mental, emotional, and spiritual relationships. Many foods and drinks, included as a very occasional item in the diet, will have no measurable effect. But they become problems when incorporated as habitual practices. We give our God praise from the whole of our being by offering our whole life as a living sacrifice.
Dwell more on the idea of praising God with our bodies. What might that mean? How might lifestyle choices be a means of praising God? At the same time, how might wrong lifestyle choices be a way of denying God?
| THURSDAY | April 1 |
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
So far, we have seen that God is a God of love and grace, and He desires to have a special relationship with us, one that none of the other creatures here on earth can enjoy. At the center of that relationship stand the Cross and the plan of salvation, because—of all the reasons we have to love God—the Cross remains by far the best one.
How does 1 John 4:10—“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”—capture the essence of what it means to love God?
When you love someone, words of praise and appreciation are natural. When we, as Christians, give our hearts to the Lord, we get the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He fills the Christian with a deep sense of gratitude or appreciation. From such appreciation there will arise a heart filled with praise and adoration of God.
Yet, there is an important point that many folk forget. True praise for God involves the whole being. That is, we praise God not only on a spiritual, emotional, and mental level but with our physical bodies too. It is the application of healthful habits in life that give us clarity of mind, the balance to the whole.
Scientists have uncovered fascinating physical changes in the brain that follow habitual practices. For instance, drugs induce changes in the brain that become firmly entrenched and make for powerful addictions. Degeneration in our blood vessels likewise results in impaired brain functioning. A disease like Alzheimer’s is a result of destruction of brain cells. Clearly, we are dependent on our physical state to enjoy clear mental, emotional, and spiritual relationships. Many foods and drinks, included as a very occasional item in the diet, will have no measurable effect. But they become problems when incorporated as habitual practices. We give our God praise from the whole of our being by offering our whole life as a living sacrifice.
Dwell more on the idea of praising God with our bodies. What might that mean? How might lifestyle choices be a means of praising God? At the same time, how might wrong lifestyle choices be a way of denying God?
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