Our 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." (Romans 12:1)

Take my heart and form it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, conform it
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord!

The chorus to a song we sing at church sums up our verse for today: presenting our entire being as a living sacrifice unto God. Lord, take our hearts and form them into your image; take our minds and transform them to your likeness. Lord, take our will and conform it to your will, into Your image, into Your likeness, and according to Your will.

Whenever I've read this verse in the past I always applied it to my physical body, to give it to martyrdom if necessary. But, it's more than that. It's saying that my "body" in His eyes is my entire being—my heart, my mind, my will AND my physical body. All of me must be presented to Him as a living sacrifice. Such a sacrifice is holy in His sight. It is the reasonable service of a servant to a Master. It is a small token of gratitude to One Who has given His all for me.

How can I ever hope to hold back anything from Him . . . if I love Him, I'll give Him my all. After all, He is my all. He deserves my all. He IS my all!

Dear Lord, again I pray, from the depth of my innermost being:

Take my heart and form it,
Take my mind, transform it,
Take my will, conform it,
To Yours, to Yours, O Lord!

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take everything I am and everything I ever hope to be and use it, Lord, for Your glory. You are my ALL IN ALL . . . You are EVERYTHING to me. You ARE!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)

© Jan Ross
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