October 29, 2011 A Trust Builder

A Trust Builder
Read Romans 12

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.

WHAT does it mean to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices”? I’ve been thinking a good deal about sacrifice lately.
Sacrifice is a big deal with God. In the very first sacrifice in Genesis 4, God preferred Abel’s sacrifice to Cain’s. Abel’s sacrifice was the image of the blood sacrifice that God would require of the Hebrews for centuries. And the blood sacrifice is what God required of his Son for you.
Sacrifice in God’s view is a way to turn your heart to see him. If, for example, we don’t sacrifice our time, our Spiritual gifts or our money to God, we have no opportunity to truly trust him.
For example, years ago, I began to “sacrifice” my time to read the Bible every day. As I gave my time to know God’s Word, I began to know him. And each day in the last 3 decades, I have grown into a deeper, trusting relationship with God. I shudder to think what I would have missed had I not set aside that time with him.
If we don’t sacrifice to God, we cannot experience his giving back to us. We will not grow into a place where we know him at all, much less totally trust Him. The more we release what we have to him, the more we trust him when we see how he gives back to us.
Sacrifice is a trust-builder. Be willing to give what you have to God and watch him generously give back to you.


Pause and Consider: that all you have has come from God. It is more than appropriate to give some back to him.