Present Yourself

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1

God, who is holy, in His kindness and great mercy gave His Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin. It is only because Jesus gave His life on the Cross that God is able to extend mercy and forgiveness to us. How great a price He paid, one of a magnitude we will never fully know! And how great is God’s mercy toward us because that price has been paid. His mercy is durable and cannot be exhausted! He forgives us not just for the sins that we commit outwardly, but He has forgiven us for being the sinners that we are. This is not a reason to go on sinning, but rather quite the opposite.

In view of the great mercy and kindness of God toward us, the only reasonable thing to do is to present ourselves to Him.  Your life and mine are made up of a series of presentations. Just as God’s mercies are new every morning, so should we present ourselves afresh and anew to Him every day. We are to present ourselves a living sacrifice. We are living because we have been made alive to God, and our lives now belong to Him. He desires to live His life out through us, and we will give an account for the lives we live. We are sacrifices because we consider ourselves dead to sin.  Meaning, we have made up our minds about sin. Each and every day we sin less and less because of God’s grace that is at work in us.  God is faithful to forgive, and cleanse us. He delights to pour out His Holy Spirit every time we lift our hands to Him and humble ourselves before Him.  Let us be found present and accounted for every day, and waiting with eager hearts to hear from our Father in Heaven.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father, I don’t deserve Your mercy, but I receive it! I present myself to You afresh and anew which is the only reasonable thing for me to do in light of Your great mercies toward me. I lay my life down, and ask that you live Your life through me today. In Jesus name, amen.