Romans12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
I can't get away from these verses!
What does it mean to really give our bodies to God? How do we become a living sacrifice? Practically? Do we treat our bodies any differently than the world does? I mean, really? We do seem to do a better job not sleeping around, if we stay married, that is. But is anything else different? Are we copying the world? Do we think any differently about our bodies than the world does? Is it as simple as just letting God's Spirit in us choose what we do in each moment?
Why are these questions so important? Because it is truly the way to worship Him! And it is how we know His good and pleasing and perfect will for us.
This is kind of humorous now that I think about it. I have spent years wondering if God even cares about our bodies at all, and now I am realizing that is the avenue for true worship.
Oh Lord, please teach me these things, soon! I want to worship You in spirit and in truth! For reals. What You actually mean when You use the word "worship". I don't want a contaminated worldly version. I want You.
5 comments:
I don't feel like I know anything about this subject but I want desparately to learn. I'd like to know what someone like Beth Moore would say about that. I will be 'listening' to answers to this one intently.
WOW, this is exactly what is on my heart today!! I love when that happens:)I think it is very unclear to us because it is like everything else in life, we worship 'IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH' - that includes what we do with our body. What does the spirit tell us to do?! Look at all the crazy things the people of the bible did as sacrifices that we aren't necessarily asked to do today, but it was 'right' for that person.
John lived in the wilderness and only ate locusts and honey,
Ezekial did some CRAZY stuff to get God's point across like laying on his side for hundreds of days in his undergarments I think. (wasn't that considered imodest? but it was right for him) I think we need to trust God for what He is telling us to use our bodies for. There is no one right answer except what God is telling us individually is our personal living sacrifice to Him.
Sorry, that was pretty long.
I have no earthly idea why your blog popped up on my igoogle page except perhaps it said something about one of my favorite Bible teachers - Beth Moore.
I read your blog post and strangely, this has been something GOD has been trying to get me to take extremely seriously - that my earthly, flesh and blood body matter to HIM.
This may sound crazy to you guys, but the thought popped in my head that if HIS Holy Spirit dwells inside of me instead of a temple made with human hands - it's almost a feeling of being set apart and sacred.
The crazy part is that it reminded me of when I was pregnant with my first child (and my second also) 25 years ago.
I ate differently - healthy food, drank water, walked, took vitamins, slept enough and treated myself differently because of what I carried inside of me - the life of my child. What if I was careful with my body to treat it that way because inside of me is the Holy Spirit of the Living GOD?
I mean, it was a strange thought, but giving up all of myself to HIS glory is to allow HIM to be LORD over all aspects of my life.
Sorry so long...glad I saw this...it's a great blog!
Blessings and prayers,
Teri
Well, Darla, hopefully God will shed some light on this for us. :)
Julene, I understand using my body to be obdient, but is that the same as offering it in worship? They go together, obviously, but is that all that it should be?
Teri, I am so glad you stumbled on to my blog. Thank you so much for your comment, and I think the daily ways we care for our bodies is definately part of this too.
If we put yours and Julene's together is that the complete picture, or are we still missing something?
I do love how God leads His people together like this. He will give us our answers!
Teri,
Great analogy of the way you treated your body when you were pregnant. That makes sense to me.
Post a Comment